Kristallnacht survivor calls on German police to stand firm against hate

Kristallnacht survivor George Shefi, 94, addressed German police leaders at Berlin's New Synagogue on the 88th anniversary of the pogrom, urging them to learn from the past and stand firm against hate. The event, organized by the International March of the Living, honored police officer Wilhelm Krützfeld who saved the synagogue. Shefi called on police to refuse to stand by in the face of hatred.

George Shefi, a 94-year-old survivor of Kristallnacht, returned to Berlin to address senior police leaders from Germany, the United States, and other European countries at the New Synagogue, a site targeted during the 1938 pogrom. The event, held Thursday on the 88th anniversary, was titled 'Not on Our Watch: Operationalizing Never Again.' Shefi told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency that Germany has an 'enormous responsibility' to learn from the past. He praised Wilhelm Krützfeld, the local police precinct head who called the fire brigade to save the synagogue, and called on German police to emulate his courage. The event was an initiative of the International March of the Living, in collaboration with Germany's largest police trade union. Shefi, who immigrated to Israel in 1949, has shared his story with over 12,000 German students and received Germany's Federal Order of Merit. The gathering comes amid heightened global antisemitism; a report by Israel's Ministry of Diaspora Affairs documented 244 incidents targeting synagogues across 34 countries from October 2023 to October 2026. The article also notes a German town's recent vote to ban stolpersteine memorial stones, which Shefi said must be 'fought tooth and nail.'