Berlin's Jewish memorials are places of remembrance

On November 9, 2023, a memorial procession will be held in Berlin. On the same date 85 years ago, Nazis carried out antisemitic attacks on synagogues and Jewish businesses. The memorial procession will end at the Jewish Community Center in Fasanenstrasse. A sculpture of a broken Torah scroll and a former synagogue entrance commemorate the religious building that once stood on the site.

The synagogue in Fasanenstrasse (pictured here in 1930) was set on fire by the Nazis on November 9, 1938. On that night in coordinated attacks, around 1,400 synagogues and 7,000 Jewish-owned stores around Germany and Austria were destroyed or severely damaged. Approximately 1,300 people died and 30,000 Jewish men were deported to concentration camps.

The November pogrom marked a gruesome turning point in the Nazis' persecution of Jews, which culminated in the genocide of millions of Jews and other victims in Europe. A memorial in the center of Berlin consists of 3,000 stone blocks that pay tribute to the 6 million Jewish people from all over Europe who were murdered by the Nazis. It was designed by New York architect Peter Eisenman.

White roses on track 17 at Grunewald station in Berlin honor the more than 50,000 Berlin Jews who were sent to their deaths on trains departing from this site. Steel plates show the date, destination and number of deportees. The first train went to the Litzmannstadt ghetto in Lodz, Poland, on October 18, 1941. The last train to the Theresienstadt concentration camp left on March 27, 1945.

Before the Holocaust, around 173,000 Jews lived in Berlin. By 1945 there were only 7,000 left. The monument "Der Verlassene Raum" ("The Deserted Room") is located in the middle of the Koppenplatz residential area in Berlin's Mitte district. It is a reminder of the Jewish citizens who were taken from their homes without warning, never to return.

Several high-ranking Nazi officials met in this villa on Lake Wannsee in January 1942 to discuss the systematic murder of European Jews, which they termed the "Final Solution to the Jewish Question." Today, the building is a memorial that informs visitors about the horrific dimensions of the genocide that was discussed here.

Designed by German artist Gunter Demnig, these brass plates are very small — only 10 x 10 centimeters (3.9 x 3.9 inches). They mark the homes and offices from which people were deported by the Nazis. Around 10,000 of them have been placed throughout Berlin, with thousands more across Europe.

The heart of Berlin's fashion metropolis once beat here. A memorial sign made of mirrors recalls the Jewish fashion designers and stylists who made clothes for all of Europe at Hausvogteiplatz. The Nazis expropriated the Jewish businesses, and Berlin's fashion center was destroyed during World War II.

There are eight remaining Jewish cemeteries in Berlin, and the largest of them is in the Weissensee district. With over 115,000 graves, it is the largest Jewish cemetery in Europe. Many persecuted Jews hid in the complex premises during the Nazi era. On May 11, 1945, only three days after the end of World War II, the first postwar Jewish funeral service was held here.

Today, the Hackesche Höfe complex in Berlin Mitte is mentioned in every travel guide. It's a backyard courtyard complex in which many Jewish people lived and worked — for example in the brush factory of German entrepreneur Otto Weidt. During the Nazi period, Weidt employed many blind and deaf Jews, saving them from deportation and death. The former workshop is now a museum.

Architect Daniel Libeskind chose a dramatic design for this museum, which opened in 2001. Viewed from above, the building looks like a broken Star of David. The Jewish Museum is one of the most visited museums in Berlin. It gives an overview of centuries of German Jewish history.

When the New Synagogue on Oranienburger Strasse was consecrated in 1866, it was considered the largest and most magnificent synagogue in Germany. One of Berlin's 13 synagogues to survive the pogroms, it was later destroyed by Allied bombs. It was reconstructed and opened again in 1995. The 50-meter-high (164-foot) golden dome once again dominates the cityscape.

On October 17, 2023, there was an attempted arson attack on a prominent synagogue located on Brunnenstrasse in central Berlin. At the same location on November 9, the German government will hold a memorial event to mark 85 years since the November pogroms. The event will commemorate both past and present victims of antisemitism.