Shefi Returns to Berlin to Mark 88 Years Since Kristallnacht

George Shefi was six years old on Nov. 9, 1938, when his mother kept him home for three days. When he was finally allowed to go out again, his Jewish school inside a Berlin synagogue had been burned down, the Jewish hat store opposite his home had been looted, and the windows of the stationery shop next door had been smashed.

Shefi, now 94 and a resident of Jerusalem, returned to the German capital 88 years later. He is one of the last living witnesses of Kristallnacht, the Night of Broken Glass, when Nazis and ordinary Germans terrorized Jews throughout Germany and Austria. Israel’s Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial states that at least 91 people died and 7,500 Jewish businesses were vandalized. More than 1,400 synagogues were targeted by arsonists.

Shefi visited his childhood home in Berlin’s Schoeneberg district to share his memories. He described a Jewish shop owner cleaning up debris while 30 to 50 people jeered and yelled. Shefi said he keeps those memories alive to help prevent such persecution from happening again. He noted that while he once hated Germans, he now believes younger people are not to blame for events from 80 years ago.

Shefi said he now speaks to school groups and other Germans about the lessons of his life. He argued that studying history is necessary because people will be responsible for what happens in five to 10 years. He stated that without knowledge of the Holocaust, prevention becomes impossible.

The pogrom marked a major escalation in Nazi persecution. Years later, the Nazis formally adopted their Final Solution, moving from boycotts and legislation to systematic mass murder. Six million European Jews were killed in the Holocaust.

For Shefi, Kristallnacht ended his sheltered childhood. In July 1939, his mother, Marie Spiegelglas, placed him on a Kindertransport to England with 300 other Jewish children. He never saw her again. She was deported to Auschwitz and murdered in 1943.

Shefi lived with several foster families in England and survived the German bombing of London during World War II. He later immigrated to the United States before moving to Israel and settling in Jerusalem. There, he raised a family, ran a tool shop, and served as a volunteer police officer.

As Germany prepared to mark the 88th anniversary on Monday, Shefi shared his story with police officers visiting Berlin. The officers were there to deepen their understanding of the Holocaust and their responsibility to protect Jewish communities. He joined Jochen Kopelke, chairman of the German Police Union, who has made educating officers about Jewish life a priority.

Kopelke told The Associated Press that many police officers in Germany do not know anything about Jewish life. He said officers protect synagogues but also need to understand contemporary Jewish life and the police’s role during the Third Reich. Kopelke noted that the police in the Nazi era actively took part in the Shoah, guarded concentration camps, and deported people. He argued that policemen must know the history of the police and be brought to the real world in addition to the historical process.

Phyllis Greenberg Heideman, president of the International March of the Living, said Holocaust education is essential to combating rising antisemitism. The group organizes an annual remembrance event at Auschwitz and supports efforts to combat hatred of Jews. She called the fight against antisemitism daunting and difficult, but the most important act anyone can do.

Shefi said speaking about his childhood in Nazi Germany has become increasingly urgent. He stated that his generation is the last generation that can tell what happened without anybody saying that’s not true.