Political Quotes

“Mr. Speaker, Monday, November 9, marks the 77th anniversary of Kristallnacht, the event that would foreshadow the crimes against humanity that the Nazis would commit against 6 million Jews and other religious and ethnic minorities. Inspired by incitement from the Nazi Minister of Propaganda, Joseph Goebbels, regime members, and party loyalists issued orders to local officials to target and attack the Jewish community. Often disguised in plain clothes to perpetuate the false narrative that these were spontaneous attacks and the expression of the public sentiment toward the Jews, the pogroms of Kristallnacht had an immediate and chilling impact. Mr. Speaker, mobs roamed the streets freely attacking Jews in their houses, destroying their businesses, and forcing them to perform public acts of humiliation. Nearly 300 synagogues were destroyed while Jewish artifacts and archives were confiscated. Approximately 7,500 Jewish-owned businesses and shops were vandalized and looted; and to add to the disgrace and punishment of having their livelihoods taken from them and destroyed, the Jews were blamed for the events of Kristallnacht, and they were fined for damages--the then equivalent of $400 million. Over 30,000 Jews were arrested and then transferred to some of the Nazi's most gruesome and notorious concentration camp sites during the events of Kristallnacht. Nearly 100 Jews were killed on the night of November 9, 1938, and into the morning the next day. Yet, Mr.…”