Only Those Who Take the Lead in Ending Hatred Hear the Message of Kristallnacht

Kristallnacht , the “night of broken glass,” is a permanent rent in the fabric of our Western social consciousness. Its importance historically and morally is independent of its being a harbinger of the Holocaust. The eight hours of anti-Jewish rioting that began on Nov. 9, 1938, marked the shift from legalized anti-Jewish discrimination to outright violence. For the first time in modern history, a pogrom was organized and promoted on an official level by a Western European state. It is in this connection between mob hatred and government sanction that the true horror of Kristallnacht lies--and reverberates both backward and forward in time.

The test of a civilized society, then, is to what degree it protests and rejects the message of Kristallnacht . It is not sufficient for states to sever official connection between themselves and base hatred; governments must take an active lead in ending hatred, which can lead to violence.

Two countries have recently taken painful but necessary steps to achieve this end.

By changing the legal procedures dealing with persons charged with terrorist offenses, the British government is attempting to curb the intractable problem of terrorism committed by the Irish Republican Army. This includes the suspension of the right to remain silent, thereby permitting a judge to interpret silence as an admission of guilt. At the same time, the British want to implement a proposal requiring all candidates for political office in Northern Ireland--including members of Sinn Fein, the IRA’s legal political wing--to sign a pledge denouncing violence.

Israel has also taken a major step. This year the Knesset voted to prohibit the Kach Party from standing for election. Kach followers have maintained that Arabs from Judea and Samaria (the West Bank), as well as behind the Green Line, would have to be transferred out of Israel or consigned to second-class citizenship to preserve the state’s Jewish character. In turning down an appeal, justices of the Israeli Supreme Court said that “the aims of Kach and its actions are racist, and . . . it seeks to violently deny the rights of segments of the population.” Indeed, Kach’s hatred has even turned inward. The recent announcement of a rally of its leader, Meir Kahane, was titled “Israel’s Assault on Judaism, Zionism and Kahane!”

There are risks in these policies. Abuses will no doubt result. Corrective mechanisms will have to be found to counteract such problems. Nonetheless, democracies can’t be put into a straitjacket in the face of a clear and present danger to society. There is no moral argument in the democratic ideal that allows for inaction in response to those who promote and advocate terror, hatred and destruction.

The mandate of Kristallnacht is that governments must take an active role in combatting hate. This is a continual challenge, one that nations must face in their own specific situations.

The Soviet Union, which has taken tentative steps to end state-sponsored anti-Semitism in the spirit of glasnost , must now face the fact that political reforms have also given rise to popular and traditional anti-Semitism. The group Pamyat , or Memory, has gained in strength, confidence and anti-Semitic virulence. It appeals to a national heritage that has few mechanisms within it to oppose anti-Semitism. The Soviet Union must take a lead in active opposition to such groups.

Israel, surrounded by enemies who wish to destroy it, faces the complex problem of the intifada , in which Arab mob violence does not spare Jewish women and children. Nonetheless, Israel as a state needs to build on its rejection of the racist views of Kach and to renounce that which both major parties have publicly repudiated--the transfer of Arab populations.

In the United States the question of enacting group-defamation statutes must be fully considered. The rise of incidents of racial violence like the assault on three black men at Howard Beach, N.Y., the continual defamation of women in pornography, the increased incidence of gay-bashing are certainly the effects of actively spread hatred. Our society, which in the next decade could very well experience increasing tensions between class and race and between those with radically different lives, must start considering ways of ending provocation. The United States should follow the lead of major governments of Western Europe, Canada and Israel, all of which have banned racist remarks that promote violence.

Kristallnacht exists in time as a permanent warning, an ever-present possibility. It must be remembered; we must be vigilant.