Ahead of the 88th anniversary of Kristallnacht (Night of Broken Glass), police leaders from Germany, Europe, and the United States gathered at a synagogue in Berlin on Thursday to address rising antisemitism and the protection of Jewish communities.
"Not on Our Watch," a global law-enforcement partnership with the International March of the Living, organized the gathering.
George Shefi, 94, one of the last surviving victims of Kristallnacht, spoke at the gathering alongside Jochen Kopelke, chair of the German Police Union.
"As one of the last survivors of the Kristallnacht pogrom, it is important to me to return to my birthplace to tell senior police officials what happened," said Shefi. "My message to them is clear: learn from what happened and commit to ensuring it never happens again."
Shefi added that he is "deeply concerned about antisemitism in Germany and around the world. Law enforcement officers are on the front lines of the fight against it and must remain vigilant. Sadly, Jews around the world are still not safe. The same hatred of Jews persists."
Kopelke: Germany 'incurred enormous guilt' over Holocaust
Kopelke, who participated in the March of the Living earlier this year, lit a torch at the ceremony dedicated to the fight against antisemitism.
"In view of the alarming increase in antisemitic acts in the Federal Republic, I feel obliged to use every means at my disposal to confront the terrible, deeply concerning and clearly discernible rise of German, homegrown antisemitism," he said. "As a citizen, as a democrat, as a trade unionist, as a police officer and, above all, as a human being."
He noted that Germany "incurred enormous guilt" over the Holocaust, criticizing Alternative for Germany (AfD) co-leader Alice Weidel for her description of Holocaust remembrance as a "cult of guilt."
Kopelke said Weidel's characterization "mocks the victims of the Nazi killing machine."
The event further honored Officer Wilhelm Krützfeld, who fought to protect Berlin’s New Synagogue during the pogroms in November 1938.