KRISTALLNACHT COMMEMORATION
SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 4, 2007 - 7:00 PM

SPEAKER: Dr. Ken Hanson, Professor - University of Central Florida

Each year, the Holocaust Memorial Resource and Education Center of Florida hosts a public program in remembrance of Kristallnacht – The Night of Broken Glass. Many historians agree that the Reich’s Kristallnacht represented a major turning point in the development of the Holocaust. On November 9-10, 1938, the government of Nazi Germany organized and carried out against the Jewish community a massive act of state-sponsored violence. Led by party officials and storm troopers, mobs looted and burned 267 synagogues. More than 7500 businesses were vandalized and 91 Jews were killed outright. 30,000 Jewish men were arrested and deported to concentration camps across Austria and Germany.

This year’s Kristallnacht Commemoration, was held Sunday, November 4th at 7 pm in the Jewish Community Center Auditorium (851 North Maitland Avenue). It featured Making Murder Legal: The Nazi Campaign of Genocide, written and performed by Dr. Ken Hanson. Dr. Hanson portrayed Martin Niemoller, the famous German theologian.

Martin Niemoller, a Protestant pastor and leader of the anti-Nazi Confessing Church, welcomed the Nazis initially, but he soon saw the dangers of the regime. He was arrested and spent seven years at Sachsenhausen and Dachau. He was released in 1945 by the allies and helped issue the “Stuttgart Confession of Guilt” (1945), which confessed the collective war guilt of the Germans.

Niemoller himself shared the guilt stating: “First they came for the Jews. I was silent. I was not a Jew. Then they came for the Communists. I was silent. I was not a Communist. Then they came for the trade unionists. I was silent. I was not a trade unionist. Then they came for me. There was no one left to speak for me”.

After the war Niemoller became a convinced pacifist, denounced nuclear weapons, and advocated a neutral, disarmed, and reunited Germany. He died in 1984.

Dr. Hanson, a Yad Vashem graduate and assistant professor in the Judaic Studies Program of the University of Central Florida, received his M.A./PhD degree in Hebrew Studies from the University of Texas, Austin. His dissertation topic was The Dead Sea Scrolls & Rabbinic Literature. His publications include Dead Sea Scrolls: the Untold Story (Council Oak Books) and Treasure in Eastern Vessels: The Legacy of the Dead Sea Scrolls - 6 part audio book.

Changing costumes on stage and accompanied by a backup musical ensemble, Dr. Hanson “became” Niemoller, explaining the dangerous ideology that drove the German campaign of “ethnic cleansing”. More than a lecture, it was a dramatic presentation that conveyed important insight into the minds of the ideologues who, in the heart of modern Europe, made murder legal.

The Center’s programs and events are made possible through generous donations and sponsorship by the Jewish Federation of Greater Orlando, of which the Center is a constituent agency, and Darden Restaurant Foundation.
Programs are also funded in part by the United Arts of Central Florida, Inc., State of Florida, Department of State-Division of Cultural Affairs, Florida Arts Council and National Endowment for the Arts
and the Holocaust Center’s generous corporate and individual supporters.

The Holocaust Memorial Center is open Sunday 1pm to 4pm; Monday – Thursday 9am to 4pm; Friday 9am to 1pm.