Remembering the November Pogroms: Jewish History and Holocaust Remembrance in Berlin

Understanding the Significance of 9 November

In Berlin, history is present at different scales. A major memorial can shape an entire public space, while a small brass plaque in the pavement asks someone walking past to stop and read a name.

Each November, these places take on particular significance. On 9–10 November 1938, the Nazi regime organized a wave of anti-Jewish violence across Germany and its annexed territories. Synagogues, businesses and homes were attacked, and Jewish people were assaulted, murdered and imprisoned.

The anniversary of the November pogroms is a time for remembrance and historical reflection. For international students in Berlin, it offers an opportunity to understand how persecution affected the city’s residents and how their lives are remembered today.

Image licensed via Envato Elements.

What Were the November Pogroms of 1938?

The November pogroms were coordinated, state-sponsored attacks against Jewish people and communities. Nazi leaders instigated the violence, which was carried out by members of Nazi organizations and other participants.

Synagogues were burned and vandalized. Jewish-owned shops were looted and destroyed. People were attacked in their homes and publicly humiliated, while thousands of Jewish men were imprisoned in concentration camps.

These were deliberate acts of terror. The destruction targeted people’s safety, livelihoods, places of worship and ability to live as part of their communities. In the aftermath, the Nazi regime imposed further anti-Jewish measures and forced the Jewish community to pay a collective financial penalty. Those who had suffered the attacks were subjected to additional punishment.

Why Use the Term “November Pogroms”?

Many readers know these events as Kristallnacht, commonly translated into English as the “Night of Broken Glass.” The name refers to shattered glass from damaged buildings and shop windows. The Jewish Museum Berlin explains that this wording can obscure the scale of the crimes by emphasizing material damage. The reference to a single night can also be misleading: violence continued during daylight hours.

“November pogroms” places the attacks on Jewish people and communities at the center of the description. It remains essential to explain that the Nazi state organized and directed the violence. Language influences what readers notice. Naming the events carefully helps keep responsibility, human suffering and the destruction of communal life in view.

Jewish Berlin Before the Destruction

To understand what was attacked in November 1938, we also need to learn about the lives and institutions that existed beforehand.

The New Synagogue on Oranienburger Straße was inaugurated in 1866. Its history offers an entry point into Jewish religious and communal life in Berlin long before the Nazi period.

During the November pogroms, the building was damaged and set on fire. Police officers led by Wilhelm Krützfeld intervened to prevent greater destruction. It later suffered severe bomb damage in 1943.

These details matter when looking at the building today. Its history contains different episodes of damage, preservation and reconstruction, which should not be collapsed into a single story.

More broadly, studying Jewish Berlin means encountering people as individuals: their families, beliefs, work, disagreements and aspirations. That fuller picture helps us understand the communities the perpetrators sought to destroy.

Remembering Through Individual Stories

Large historical events can be difficult to comprehend through dates and statistics alone. Letters, photographs and personal records provide another way into the history. The Jewish Museum Berlin’s digital archival resources include a letter in which David Fiks describes his experiences in Berlin on 9 November 1938 and the days that followed. Other materials explore the exclusion of Jewish children from public schools and the financial punishment imposed after the pogroms.

Such records allow students to examine how public policy and organized violence entered private life. A letter can reveal what its writer knew at a particular moment, what they feared and what they hoped might happen next. Reading it carefully also means asking about its context, recipient and limits. Personal testimony deepens historical understanding while inviting the same attention to evidence as any other source.

Places to Explore Jewish History and Memory in Berlin

New Synagogue Berlin – Centrum Judaicum

The New Synagogue Berlin – Centrum Judaicum on Oranienburger Straße connects the history of a specific building with the wider history of Jewish Berlin. Its permanent exhibition and historical resources provide opportunities to learn about the synagogue and the people associated with it. The foundation opened to the public in 1995. For an anniversary-focused visit, consider how the institution presents the building’s prewar history, the attack in 1938 and its later reconstruction.

Jewish Museum Berlin

The Jewish Museum Berlin’s core exhibition, Jewish Life in Germany: Past & Present, covers history from the Middle Ages to the present alongside Jewish culture and religious practice. This broad perspective is valuable when preparing for the November anniversary. Learning about persecution should sit within a fuller understanding of Jewish life, including cultural traditions, family histories and contemporary voices. The museum’s digital resources also make it possible to begin that exploration before visiting.

Stolpersteine in Berlin’s Neighborhoods

Stolpersteine are small brass memorial plaques embedded in pavements, generally outside the last voluntarily chosen homes of people persecuted by the Nazis. Initiated by artist Gunter Demnig, the project commemorates people through names and brief information about their persecution. It includes people who survived, as well as those who were murdered. The Berlin Stolpersteine website provides biographies that can help visitors learn more about particular individuals. Choosing one name to research can turn a familiar street into a starting point for historical inquiry.

Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe

The Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe commemorates the Jewish victims of the Holocaust. It consists of Peter Eisenman’s Field of Stelae and an underground Information Centre. It is a memorial to the Holocaust as a whole, rather than specifically to the November pogroms. That distinction helps visitors place the events of 1938 within the wider history of Nazi persecution and genocide. Combining a visit with historical reading can help connect the memorial’s public presence with the people and events it commemorates.

Jewish Life in Berlin Today

Remembrance also requires attention to the present. The Jewish Museum Berlin’s core exhibition includes contemporary Jewish voices, recognizing a diversity of experiences and perspectives. Jewish history continues beyond the Nazi period and beyond the story of persecution.

For students, this means making space to learn about Jewish culture and life on their own terms. Historical remembrance and an interest in living communities can inform each other without treating present-day Jewish people as representatives of a single experience.

Historical Learning at Touro University Berlin

The anniversary raises questions that belong in academic discussion: How did institutions enable persecution? What can personal records reveal? How do museums and memorials shape public understanding?

Touro University Berlin’s English-language Holocaust Studies master’s program includes the study of Holocaust history, research, teaching and representation in museums and memorials. Berlin offers a setting in which these questions can be explored through historical sites and educational resources. Students from different backgrounds can contribute perspectives while grounding discussion in evidence.

On 9–10 November 2026, 88 years after the pogroms, remembrance begins with attention: to a name, a document, a building and the life connected to it.

Note: This blog provides educational and editorial content on a variety of topics. The views and interpretations expressed in individual articles do not necessarily reflect the official position of Touro University Berlin or Touro University.