Kristallnacht Synagogue Restored

November 24, 2008

The new synagogue, which can accommodate 300 people and whose construction cost €12 million (US $17 million), was a testament to the fact that the Nazis failed in their bid to wipe out European Jewry, the governor of the largest German state of North Rhine Westphalia, Jurgen Ruttgers said. “Jewish life has unquestionably assumed its place across the country,” he added, calling the development a “sign of confidence and hope” in German society.

Krefeld, a city of 237,000 which lies on the banks of the Rhine, had no synagogue for 70 years after Nazi thugs destroyed the 19th-century house of worship in the so-called “Kristallnacht” pogroms in November 1938.

Immigration from the former Soviet Union has led the German Jewish community to grow rapidly, and it now counts about 110,000 members. Several synagogues have been restored or newly built in recent years in cities including Berlin, Munich, and Bochum.

World Jewish Congress

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