October 25, 2015 November Events To Be Held in Remembrance of Kristallnacht

The Library of Congress will host two public events in November in remembrance of Kristallnacht, the “Night of Broken Glass,” which took place in cities throughout Germany and Austria on Nov. 9, 1938. The brutal attacks by German Nazis on the Jewish population left 91 dead, and approximately 1,000 synagogues and 7,000 Jewish-owned businesses burned or otherwise damaged. More than 30,000 Jewish citizens were arrested and deported to Nazi concentration camps—marking the beginning of Hitler’s “Final Solution” for European Jewry.

At noon on Monday, Nov. 9, 2015, the Library’s European Division and its Hebrew Language Table will host “Writing the Holocaust,” a discussion with authors Anthony Pitch and Nancy Geise, moderated by Michlean Amir of the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum. Pitch will discuss his book, “Our Crime Was Being Jewish,” featuring vivid memories of 358 Holocaust survivors. Geise will discuss her book, “Auschwitz #34207: The Joe Rubenstein Story,” one man’s tale of survival.

At noon on Monday, Nov. 16, the Library’s Asian American Association and Hebrew Language Table, in association with the Embassy of the Czech Republic, will host a film screening of “Inside Hana’s Suitcase” (2011, 94 min.). Directed by award-winning filmmaker Larry Weinstein, the film is based on the 2003 book “Hana’s Suitcase” by Karen Levine, which has been translated into 40 languages. The true story centers on a suitcase marked “Hana Brady, May 16, 1931,” which arrived at the Tokyo Holocaust Education Center in Japan in 2000. The center’s curator, Fumiko Ishioka, searches for clues to young Hana and her family, whose happy life in a small Czech town was destroyed by the invasion of the Nazis.

Both programs, which are free and open to the public, will be held in the Mary Pickford Theater, located on the third floor of the Library’s James Madison Building at 101 Independence Ave. S.E., Washington, D.C. Reservations are not required but seating is limited.

Founded in 1800, the Library of Congress is the nation’s first-established federal cultural institution. The Library seeks to advance the knowledge and creativity of the American people through its collections, programs, publications and services. Many of the Library’s resources can be accessed through its website at www.loc.gov.