Winnipeg, October 13, 2014 - The annual KRISTALLNACHT commemoration service and program will take place earlier than usual this year: Sunday, October 26, 2014, at 2:00 p.m. in the Berney Theatre, Asper Jewish Community Campus at 123 Doncaster St. It is presented by the Jewish Federation of Winnipeg, Rady Jewish Community Centre, and Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs. There is no admission charge, however seating is limited

KRISTALLNACHT is the NIGHT OF BROKEN GLASS. On the night of November 9-10, 1938, rampaging mobs throughout Germany, Austria and Sudetenland freely attacked Jews in the street, in their homes and at their places of work and worship. At least 91 Jews were killed and hundreds were injured and raped. Approximately 300 synagogues were burned, almost 7,500 Jewish businesses were destroyed, cemeteries and schools were vandalized, and over 30,000 Jews were arrested and sent to concentration camps.  Kristallnacht was one of the most important turning points in the history of anti-Semitism.

At this event, Professor Amos Guiora, law professor at the S.J. Quinney School of Law, University of Utah and retired Lt. Colonel of the Israel Defence Forces will be discussing “Kristallnacht: The Complicity of the Bystander”. The question of the bystander is complex and controversial. It highlights complicated dilemmas regarding man’s relationship to his fellow man and the extent to which human relationships can be regulated by legislation.

Professor Guiora has published extensively both in the U.S. and Europe on issues related to national security, limits of interrogation, religion and terrorism and the limits of power, multiculturalism and human rights. He has won a number of prestigious awards including the vaunted Fullbright Fellowship. He is an eminently qualified commentator, analyst, and advisor, sought out by media outlets and he has consulted with governments and corporations on strategic, legal issues and policy making. The release of his new book The Bystander in the Holocaust: An Inquiry into Complicity is greatly anticipated.