Night of Broken Glass......70 years on

It is perhaps significant that in a week which has seen an Afro-American elected to the presidency of the US - given the bigotry and prejudices in America not all that long ago, and probably still there - that today, 9 November, marks the 70th anniversary of Kristallnacht, the Night of Broken Glass, in Germany.

It was a night which in many respects sealed what was to follow and become known as the Holocaust.

BBC News reports on how Germany is addressing this sobering anniversary:

"Germany is preparing to mark the 70th anniversary of the Nazi-inspired Kristallnacht riots, amid warnings of a rise in far-right sentiment.

A ceremony will be held at Berlin's largest synagogue with a classical and pop concert held later in the day.

Chancellor Angela Merkel has called on the country to "fight with determinism" against racism and anti-Semitism.

Kristallnacht, or the Night of Broken Glass, is often regarded as the starting point of the Holocaust.

About six million people, mostly Jews, were killed by the Nazis.

On 9 and 10 November 1938, Nazi storm troopers ransacked thousands of Jewish homes and businesses and burnt synagogues.

More than 90 Jewish people were murdered and about 30,000 Jewish men were sent to concentration camps."

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