Germany commemorates Kristallnacht amid fears of rising antisemitism

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz walks past a candle holder during a commemoration ceremony (John Macdougall/Pool Photo via AP)

Across Germany, in schools, city halls, synagogues, churches and parliament, people came together on Thursday to commemorate the 85th anniversary of Kristallnacht — or the “Night of Broken Glass” — in 1938 in which the Nazis terrorised Jews throughout Germany and Austria.

Chancellor Olaf Scholz and Germany’s main Jewish leader, Josef Schuster, spoke at an anniversary ceremony at a Berlin synagogue that was attacked with firebombs in October.