The night of the 9th to the 10th November is known as Reichspogromnacht, otherwise known as Kristallnacht or The Night of Broken Glass.
On the night of the 9th to the 10th November in 1938 synagogues were attacked and destroyed throughout Germany. Jewish shops were vandalised and ninety-one Jews were killed. The largest Synagogue in Leipzig; in the Gottschiedstrasse, was burned to the ground. Stoplersteine (literally translated as tripping stones) contain the names of victims of the Holocaust (Shoah) in Leipzig, they are brass stones and can be found throughout the city. These stones are cleaned each year.
On Sunday 10th November 2024, students, members and friends of the LIS school community took part in the annual Stolperstein cleaning ceremony at Nordstrasse 41 to remember the lives of Moses and Edith Azderbal. Moses and Edith both lost their lives during the years of the holocaust- Moses was murdered in Auschwitz and Edith died during transport to Auschwitz- the stones are the only reminder that they lived.
We cleaned the stones, read the biography of Moses and Edith and were laid in reflection through the recital of the El Male Rachamim- a Shoah memorial prayer- by Mr. Kirschenbaum.
It was a very moving experience. We must never forget the victims of the holocaust.
Mr Gary Bell