Synagogues across Russia remained illuminated throughout the night as Jewish communities marked 88 years since Kristallnacht, the wave of violent anti-Jewish pogroms carried out by the Nazis on November 9–10, 1938.
As part of the annual “Light in the Synagogues” initiative, synagogue lights were deliberately left burning from the evening of November 9 through the following morning. The gesture has become a symbol both of remembrance for those who were murdered and persecuted and of the continuity of Jewish life—the same synagogues that hatred sought to extinguish today filled once again with prayer, Torah study and Jewish families.
Kristallnacht, also known as the “Night of Broken Glass,” saw synagogues throughout Germany and Nazi-controlled territories burned or destroyed, thousands of Jewish-owned businesses and homes vandalized, Jews assaulted and murdered, and approximately 30,000 Jewish men arrested and sent to concentration camps. The events marked a devastating escalation in the Nazi persecution of Europe’s Jews.
Perhaps nowhere in Russia did this year’s commemoration carry greater historical symbolism than at the Grand Synagogue of Kaliningrad, formerly Königsberg.
The original Königsberg synagogue, inaugurated in 1896, was one of the most prominent Jewish houses of worship in East Prussia. It was set ablaze during Kristallnacht and subsequently demolished. It is the only synagogue on the territory of present-day Russia known to have been burned during those pogroms.
Eight decades later, in November 2018, the synagogue was rebuilt on its original site, with its distinctive façade and dome recalling the building destroyed by the Nazis. Today, rather than standing as a monument to a vanished community, the synagogue is once again an active center of Jewish prayer, education and communal life.
On the morning following this year’s night of remembrance, a special Shacharit service was held in the Kaliningrad synagogue in memory of the victims. Kaliningrad Chief Rabbi David Shvedik and community chairman Mr. Eliezer Plitman lit memorial candles, while local historian Mikhail Rushanov spoke about the history of Königsberg’s Jewish community and the events of Kristallnacht.
Rabbi Alexander Boroda, President of the Federation of Jewish Communities of Russia, emphasized that remembrance must be expressed not only through memorials but through living Jewish continuity. “In the synagogues that the Nazis tried to destroy, prayers are heard today, Torah is studied and children are growing up,” Rabbi Boroda said. “The light we kindle in memory of the victims reminds us also of our responsibility to ensure that Jewish life continues into the generations to come.”
