Kristallnacht

Each year the Holocaust Center sponsors a community program in remembrance of Kristallnacht (“Night of Broken Glass”), a series of attacks against Jews throughout Nazi Germany and parts of Austria. On November 9–10, 1938 thousands of Jewish homes were ransacked along with shops, towns and villages, as SA stormtroopers and civilians destroyed buildings with sledgehammers. They left the streets covered in pieces of smashed windows—the origin of the name “Night of Broken Glass.” Ninety-one Jews were killed, and 30,000 Jewish men—a quarter of all Jewish men in Germany—were taken to concentration camps. There, they were tortured for months, with over 1,000 of them dying. During that assault, 1,668 synagogues were ransacked, and 267 set on fire. In Vienna alone 95 synagogues or houses of prayer were destroyed.

This year at the remembrance of Kristallnacht we were honored to present a new documentary film Sharing the Spotlight . Previously, we have hosted local journalist Greg Dawson speaking about the book he wrote, Hiding in the Spotlight, about his mother’s remarkable survival in the Holocaust. A child prodigy who escaped near-certain death, she — and her equally talented sister — evaded detection as they played in concerts throughout Europe during the war, sometimes even playing for Nazi officials who were unaware of their Jewish identity.

As a poignant follow-up to that story, filmmakers Susan Stauffer and Dan Beckmann of Verocity Creative Communications have created a documentary about how investigating that story has had a lasting impact on Greg and his wife Candy, and particularly on their daughter Aimee. As Greg’s mother Zhanna’s story unfolded, they had to come to terms with the incredible suffering that comes from prejudice and intolerance. It was our distinct pleasure to host a preview of the film, followed by a conversation with four members of the Dawson family: Greg, Zhanna, Candy and Aimee, all of whom talked about the impact of their experiences.

Anyone who would like more information about the Dawson family journey can visit their website http://www.hidinginthespotlight.com.

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The Holocaust Memorial Resource and Education Center of Florida · 851 N Maitland Ave · Maitland, FL 32751 · Phone: 407-628-0555 · info@holocaustedu.org