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Germany news: Germany marks fateful date of November 9
Germany is marking 9 November with commemorations of the 1938 Nazi-led pogroms against Jewish people and the 1989 opening of the Berlin Wall. Chancellor Friedrich Merz used the anniversary to urge people in Germany and Europe to defend democracy and liberty, saying they cannot be taken for granted.
The date also marks the fall of the monarchy in 1918. In 1938, at least 91 Jewish people were killed, Jewish businesses were ransacked and hundreds of synagogues were burned. President Frank-Walter Steinmeier is attending a memorial event in Weimar, while Merz is due at a ceremony for Munich’s Ohel Jakob Main Synagogue, opened 68 years after the city’s main synagogue was destroyed.
In short
- Germany commemorates the 1938 pogroms and the 1989 fall of the Berlin Wall.
- Merz calls on Europeans to defend democracy and liberty.
- At least 91 Jewish people were killed in the 1938 violence.
Explained simply
9 November is associated with several turning points in German history. In 1918, the monarchy fell as Germany emerged from the First World War; two decades later, the Nazi regime organised attacks on Jewish people, their homes, businesses and places of worship.
The 1938 violence, often called the November pogroms, was part of the persecution that led to the Holocaust. In 1989, the Berlin Wall opened, allowing people to cross between East and West Berlin and signalling the approaching end of Germany’s division during the Cold War.
These events give the date sharply different meanings: persecution and political upheaval, as well as freedom and reunification. They remain part of Germany’s public remembrance and debates about protecting democracy and the rights of minorities.