For Immediate Release                       ANNUAL KRISTALLNACHT PROGRAM 2016

This year’s KRISTALLNACHT PROGRAM will take place onWednesday, November 9, 2016 at 7:00 p.m. in the Berney Theatre of the Asper Jewish Community Campus at 123 Doncaster St. It will feature works of “The Degenerate Composers” – composers banned during the Third Reich.  Content includes Gustov Mahler, Ignacy Jan Paderewski, Franz Schreker, and Irving Berlin. The songs will be performed in German, Polish and English by soprano/vocalist Sarah Jo Kirsch and pianist Madeline Hildebrand.

Kristallnacht: In October 1938, more than 12,000 Polish-born Jews were expelled from Germany. However, they were not allowed entry into Poland leaving them in dire straits on the border. A distraught young Jewish man living in Paris at the time received a letter from his parents who were suffering on the Polish border. As a form of protest, he went to the German embassy in Paris and shot a German diplomat. On the night of November 9-10, 1938, a wave of violent attacks on the Jewish communities of Germany and Austria was orchestrated by Nazi officials as payback.

Hundreds of synagogues were burned, thousands of Jewish-owned places of business were destroyed, almost one hundred Jews were killed, and thirty thousand Jews were arrested and sent to concentration camps. The shards of broken glass seen in front of Jewish-owned stores all over Germany and Austria the next morning gave this event its name: “Kristallnacht” or “The Night of Broken Glass”.

There is no admission charge, however seating is limited. It is sponsored by the Jewish Federation of Winnipeg and the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs and is produced by Karla Berbrayer.

-30-

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION:

Rhonda J. Prepes

Event Coordinator / Community Relations Assistant

Jewish Federation of Winnipeg

204.477.7424 / [email protected]