Remembering and admonishing: Bonn commemorates the victims of the November pogrom in 1938

Remembering and admonishing: Bonn commemorates the victims of the November pogrom in 1938

Today, November 9, 2025, the city of Bonn commemorates the terrible November pogrom that took place against the Jewish population in 1938. The memorial event commemorates the brutal attacks that took place with the approval of civil society and under the supervision of SA and SS members. As the General Gazette reports, the event was a central meeting that took place on Sunday in the Bonn Opera and met with a great response.

Head of the memorial and the Nazi Documentation Center, Astrid Mehmel, recounted the shocking events: Jewish people's shops and homes were destroyed, synagogues burned, and many were deported to concentration camps. The order to destroy Bonn came directly from the Gestapo, underlining the cruelty of those times. The synagogues in Tempelstrasse, Poppelsdorf, Beuel, Bad Godesberg and Mehlem were set on fire on November 10, 1938.

Make an important statement

The memorial event was organized by the Initiative to Remember the Bonn Victims of National Socialism in collaboration with the city of Bonn and the synagogue community. Participants remembered the victims with music and honored their memories. Among the speakers were Mayor Guido Déus and Jakov Barasch, both of whom emphasized the need to speak out against anti-Semitism and keep memories alive.

The foyer of the Bonn Opera was well filled with numerous participants - some people even had to stand. Among the visitors were Ansgar Pithan (73) and Maria Sieberts (71), who have been taking part in the memorial event for decades. Maria Sieberts emphasized how important it is to remember the November pogrom. For Maria-Teresa G. (25) it was her first time taking part and she found the event very touching and enjoyable.

Current challenges

Concern about contemporary anti-Semitism was also a key theme. Ros Sachsse-Schadt (73) expressed her concerns about these developments. The fight against anti-Semitism is also supported by prominent voices such as Eva Runde, President of the International Auschwitz Committee, who warned of the rise of anti-Semitism and the erosion of democratic values. Christoph Heubner, executive vice president of the committee, described November 9th as a day of remembrance and democracy.

Josef Schuster, President of the Central Council of Jews in Germany, criticized the fact that the memory of the pogrom night was becoming increasingly vague. Minister of State for Culture Wolfram Weimer warned of the rampant rise in anti-Semitism in Germany and Europe and recalled that anti-Semitism is by no means a shadow of the past. Joachim Gauck, former Federal President, also called for a more determined fight against this problem from various political directions.

The commemoration of the November pogrom is not only a reminder of the past, but also an urgent call to remain vigilant and to actively work against forgetting and reassessing anti-Semitism and intolerance in today's society. It is up to all of us to ensure that “never again” does not remain just an empty word.