A broken night, pieced together

Henry Landsberger remembers Kristallnacht.

On that night in 1938, also known as the “Night of Broken Glass,” members of the Nazi party in Germany lashed out against the Jews, breaking windows in homes and businesses, burning and looting synagogues and taking men away from their families.

Landsberger witnessed his father being taken away at gunpoint by German officials. His father returned several months later in bad health.

“To see him sit there and cry was really very tragic,” he said.

Landsberger, a professor in the Department of Sociology and documentary filmmaker, spoke about his experiences living as a Jew in Dresden, Germany, when Adolf Hitler came to power to a handful of students in Carroll Hall on Thursday night.

The speech was a keynote event in the activities slated for Holocaust Remembrance Week, sponsored by N.C. Hillel and the Carolina Union Activities Board.

Shortly after Kristallnacht, Landsberger’s parents sent him to England to ensure his safety as anti-Semitism rose throughout Germany.

Landsberger, who says he is not a victim of the Holocaust, said the name “victim” should be reserved for those who were sent to concentration camps or lived in hiding.

“That should be for people who truly had to survive,” he said. “I was OK in England.”

Landsberger said he shares his experience with others because people should understand why the Holocaust occurred.

“Like any historical event, there are no easy answers,” he said.

It is important to understand the story of the Holocaust, said freshman Rachel Osborn, who helped organize the week of events.

“I remember my grandmother telling me to always seek out stories of people who survived the Holocaust,” she said.

There was a screening Monday afternoon of the documentary “Paperclips,” which depicts the reaction of a contemporary Southern girl when she learns about the Holocaust. The film was followed by a dinner and panel discussion with local Holocaust survivors.

A 24-hour vigil began at noon Tuesday in the Pit, where members of the University community read the names of Holocaust victims continuously.

On Wednesday night, Nicholas Kristof, a journalist and activist who has covered genocide in Sudan, spoke to students about modern issues of genocide.

The week’s events will wrap up at 6:15 p.m. today with a memorial service held at N.C. Hillel to honor victims of the Holocaust.

Ruthie Warshenbrot, co-coordinator of Holocaust Remembrance Week, said this year’s events were more all-encompassing than in past years. “We took the steps to see what we mean by ‘never again.’”

Contact the University Editor at udesk@unc.edu.