The synagogue on Pestalozzi Street, in Berlin’s Charlottenburg district, is located in the backyard of a brick building that doesn’t really “hit” the eyes of passers-by. This was what protected her somewhat, on the night of November 8-9, 1938, when the pogrom began. But the Jewish place of worship was very close to residential buildings, which were set on fire by groups of Nazis. 85 years later, the police have installed protective bars along the entire length of the building.

The bars are new. The many anti-Semitic incidents in Germany, following the Hamas attack on Israel, have fueled fear among Jews. When strangers recently painted the Star of David on the homes of Jewish Berliners, many felt a return to the Nazi era. After an attempted arson attack on a synagogue in central Berlin in mid-October, the president of the Jewish community, Gideon Yoffe, noted that “85 years after the night of the pogrom, synagogues are burning again in the German capital.”

“Every day with thoughts from the past”

Has that time really come again? Is there a historical parallel? “Yes and no,” argues Josef Schuster, president of the Central Jewish Council of Germany. “Yes, because it was an incendiary attack on a synagogue that carries wounds from history and that is a reality. No, because in 1938 the whole thing was a state-organized pogrom. Thank God, no such question arises in Germany today. Today, there are very clear political statements in favor of Israel and Jewish life in Germany, while the state provides the best possible protection for Jewish institutions. And that’s the difference.” And this difference is real, the president of the Yofe community agrees with this. “External conditions are of course not comparable to 1938,” he says. “We have the political leaders on our side. But the feeling of anxiety in the Jewish community is still there.” The German state that has declared war on anti-Semitism does not always manage in practice to reliably implement it for everyone.

A young Jewish woman from Berlin, who does not want her name to be published, says that the events of November 9 have given her feelings she had never known before. Answering questions about this historic date, he sends an emotional text. “Less than 100 years ago, Jews were murdered in factories, expelled, disenfranchised and humiliated. Suddenly all this flares up again, the thoughts of the past accompany me every day, whether I want it or not.”

Reinhard Heydrich, mastermind of the “Final Solution”

The wave of anti-Jewish violence in 1938 had long been prepared by the National Socialists. Discrimination, deprivation of rights and persecution of the Jews began immediately after they came to power in 1933. The official occasion was the assassination attempt on the counselor of the German embassy Ernst Eduard von Rath in Paris, on November 7, by the 17-year-old German Jew Herschel Griespan. The reason for this act was the deportation of 17,000 Polish Jews to the German-Polish border, including Griespan’s parents. Fom Rath succumbed to his injuries on November 9. The leadership of the National Socialists who had gathered in Munich to commemorate Hitler’s failed coup d’état on November 9, 1923, then gave the green light. “Due to the assassination attempt against von Rath in Paris, anti-Jewish demonstrations are expected throughout the Reich during the night of today, November 8-9, 1938,” cabled SS chief Reinhard Heydrich, the man who invented the ” final solution” of the Jews.

In his telegram he gave detailed instructions on the rules according to which these so-called demonstrations should take place, “for example, burning synagogues only if there is no danger of fire to the neighborhood” and “destruction, but not looting of shops and Jewish homes.” . If these guidelines were followed, “demonstrations that take place will not be able to be stopped by the police, but only monitored for compliance with the guidelines.” According to the German History Museum, the result was that more than 1,300 people were killed, 1,400 synagogues were demolished, 7,000 shops were looted and 30,000 Jews were deported to concentration camps.

The Star of David next to the bell

“Of course the situation is different in Germany today,” says Jonah Sievers, the rabbi of the Pestalozzi Street synagogue. However, he also notices something new and frightening in the houses marked with the Star of David. He knows of one case where the sign was placed right next to the doorbell of a Jewish resident. The message was: “we know where you live, you are not safe here.” “This exhibition of the Jews, the public placement of symbols reminds us of times that have to do with November 9th at that time,” says Zivers. “There is no parallel of course, but the symbolism, and what is supposed to be achieved, is identical. And that will certainly make this year’s November 9 different from the previous ones.”

According to him, the rabbi rarely wears a kippah in public to avoid hostility. “You have to be careful, you can’t be naive,” he says. On the other hand, he sends a clear message to the faithful of his community. “There is a famous song that says that all the world is a narrow bridge, but the main thing is not to be afraid. You have to take it seriously, but you shouldn’t let fear define you.”

Will normalcy ever return?

Of course, this is not easy for many. The young Jewish woman from Berlin writes that she remembers police with automatic weapons outside her elementary school after the terrorist attacks in the US on September 11, 2001, and considers it normal. “What is not normal is that Jews today are in constant danger everywhere,” she writes. “Now there is a fear of being recognized as Jewish, but also of speaking about the conflict in the Middle East. I fear that I will have to endure the way violence against Jews is relativized and justified.”

The fact that the synagogue on Pestalozzi Street is now sealed off with bars makes it feel horrible. “What is protection worth if everyone is against you? What good are railings if they’re the only way I can be the person I am? How are we supposed to deal with this as a society in Germany as a whole? It all sounds to me like it’s never going to be normal again.”