On November 9, 2025, the world marked the 87th anniversary of Kristallnacht, the infamous Night of Broken Glass that signaled the beginning of the Holocaust in Nazi Germany. But what should have been a solemn day of remembrance for the victims of one of history’s darkest nights was instead overshadowed by a series of disturbing antisemitic incidents across Europe and a stark warning from Holocaust survivors themselves, who say the world is no safer for Jews today than it was nearly nine decades ago.
In Mödling, a quiet town just south of Vienna, about 50 people gathered at the former site of the town’s synagogue—burned down during the 1938 pogroms—to honor the memory of those lost. The ceremony, intended to foster reflection and healing, took a shocking turn when, during a musical segment, a recording of a speech by Adolf Hitler suddenly blared from a nearby residential building for a minute and a half. According to Algemeiner, the sound was so loud that it left the attendees “speechless.” City councillor Stephan Schimanova described the scene to Austrian media: “There was a great deal of consternation. It was just sick.”
The city of Mödling quickly filed an official complaint, and local authorities launched an investigation into the suspect’s alleged neo-Nazi activity. Police searched the suspect’s home on November 12, seizing technical equipment. The incident has rattled the community and underscored the persistence—and boldness—of antisemitic actors in Europe, even as the world remembers the horrors unleashed on Kristallnacht.
But Austria was not alone in witnessing such disruptions. In Baden-Württemberg, Germany, about 15 people gathered in a local park to pray and commemorate Kristallnacht’s victims. That event, too, was violently interrupted—this time by a group of men waving Palestinian flags and shouting “Free Palestine” along with “death to Israel” and other antisemitic insults. One of the assailants snatched an Israeli flag from a participant and attempted to set it ablaze. According to German media, police arrested a 17-year-old Syrian refugee shortly after the incident, and investigations are ongoing.
Thomas Strobl, Interior Minister of Baden-Württemberg, condemned the attack in strong terms, warning, “It is shameful and completely unacceptable how antisemitic hatred, incitement, and violence have spread through our streets.”
Meanwhile, in Randers, Denmark, authorities are investigating vandalism at a Jewish cemetery that occurred during the Kristallnacht anniversary. Several headstones were toppled and damaged, and while there was no graffiti or political slogans, police are considering an antisemitic motive. The site is no stranger to such acts; five years ago, two men with ties to a neo-Nazi group were convicted for extensive vandalism at the same cemetery.
These incidents, occurring across three European countries, have cast a long shadow over the remembrance of Kristallnacht—a night that saw Nazi paramilitary forces launch coordinated attacks on Jewish communities throughout Germany. On November 9-10, 1938, at least 91 Jews were killed, 30,000 Jewish men were arrested and sent to concentration camps, and more than 7,000 Jewish-owned stores were looted. Synagogues were torched, homes destroyed, and the Jewish world was forever changed.
For survivors of that night, the echoes of history are chillingly familiar. Walter Bingham, now 101, George Shefi, 94, and Paul Alexander, 90, were all children in Germany during Kristallnacht. Bingham, who witnessed Hitler’s rise to power and the growing tide of antisemitism as a young boy, warned, “With today’s antisemitic atmosphere, pogroms against Jews can happen again.”
Paul Alexander, who saw his father arrested that night and sent to Buchenwald, offered a stark assessment: “The images of the past two years remind us of the darkest days of the 1930s in Nazi Germany.” For George Shefi, memories of waking up to shattered glass outside a Jewish-owned store and finding his school and synagogue burned remain vivid. Shefi’s parents arranged for him to escape to Britain on the Kindertransport just weeks before World War II—an act that saved his life, though he never saw his mother again; she was murdered in Auschwitz. Bingham’s father died in the Warsaw Ghetto, while Alexander was among the few who reunited with both parents, who managed to flee before the war.
In a joint statement released with the International March of the Living, the three survivors addressed the current climate: “We, Holocaust survivors, lived through the Kristallnacht pogrom as children in Germany. We saw with our own eyes how hatred turned to flames, how indifference became complicity, and how the world stayed silent as Jews were attacked. Today, 87 years later, we look around us and say with deep pain: the world has learned nothing. Once again, Jews are murdered for being Jews. Once again, synagogues are attacked. Once again, universities remain silent in the face of incitement. Hatred of Israel and the Jewish people spread like a plague. The world today is no safer for Jews than it was 87 years ago. In today’s atmosphere, Kristallnacht could happen again.”
The survivors called on governments to act decisively to eradicate antisemitism and to strengthen Holocaust education. “Antisemitism does not disappear on its own. It grows when met with silence. It thrives where ignorance prevails. It stops only when courageous people—Jews and non-Jews alike—stand up and say: enough.”
Scott Saunders, CEO of the International March of the Living, emphasized the urgency of the moment: “This year, we mark the anniversary of Kristallnacht amid two consecutive years of record-high antisemitism worldwide, and less than a month after Jews were murdered in a synagogue in Manchester. Kristallnacht was a warning, and today we issue another: a pogrom against Jews can happen again.”
Data from a new report by the Ministry for Diaspora Affairs and Combating Antisemitism paints a grim picture. Since October 7, 2023, antisemitic incidents have sharply risen worldwide. Over the past two years, seven Jews were murdered in antisemitic attacks in the U.S. and Europe, including two killed recently in the deadly assault on a synagogue in Manchester. The report documents 99 antisemitic incidents in synagogues, 98 targeting Jewish-owned businesses, 14 cemetery desecrations, and 182 attacks on Jewish institutions such as schools and community centers.
Two years ago, Bingham, Shefi, and Alexander retraced their childhood escape from Nazi Germany—a journey captured in a short film—just one day after the October 7 attacks in Israel. From Germany, they watched as Israel’s southern communities burned during a pogrom that struck the country. They later joined the March of the Living in Poland, standing as living witnesses to the resilience of the Jewish spirit.
“Unlike the glass shattered on Kristallnacht, the Jewish spirit did not break and will never break. Our spirit is stronger than fire, more stubborn than hate, and shines even in the darkest times,” the survivors declared. Their message, and the events of this year’s Kristallnacht anniversary, offer a sobering reminder: history’s lessons remain painfully relevant, and the fight against antisemitism is far from over.