The Institute for the Study of Religion in Community Life hosted a Kristallnacht commemoration at St. Joseph’s University, New York’s Long Island Campus on Tuesday, Nov. 7.
“Kristallnacht, or the ‘Night of Broken Glass,’ is the annual commemoration of the antisemitic violence that occurred in Nazi Germany on the night of Nov. 9-10, 1938,” said Thomas Petriano, Ph.D., professor and chair of the Department of Religious Studies at St. Joseph’s.
“We’ve been doing this program for about 25 years, and more than ever, this year it is imperative that we gather to remember,” Dr. Petriano added.
The annual event, titled “An Evening of Jewish-Christian Dialogue in Remembrance of Kristallnacht,” took place in the McGann Conference Center in O’Connor Hall at 6 p.m., starting with a Kosher buffet.
Singer, actress, recording artist and educator Naomi Miller, accompanied by David Schlossberg on keyboard, then performed a multimedia program in commemoration of the Holocaust.
Miller is the child of Holocaust survivors. Born in a displaced persons’ camp in Landsberg, Germany, she came to the United States when she was 2 years old, along with her parents, the sole survivors of their families.
“I look around this room, and you’re doing such good things for my heart,” Miller said. “Because I see young people here, I see people my age, I see faculty and students. I see survivors and children of survivors. I see people here who are not Jewish. And we’re all here to remember.”
Members of the University community, local churches, and Temple Beth El in Patchogue participated in the commemoration.
The event concluded with Kaddish led by Rabbi Ilan Pardo of Temple Beth El.
