Leading up to and on 85th Kristallnacht anniversary, attacks, antisemitism across US, Europe

In the hours leading up to and during the 85th anniversary of Kristallnacht (the “Night of Broken Glass,” when Jewish businesses were torched in Germany and Austria overnight on Nov. 9-10, 1938, and Jews attacked, tortured and killed by Nazis on the streets), antisemitic attacks have continued throughout the United States and overseas.

Speaking at the Beth Zion Synagogue in Berlin, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said he is “ashamed and outraged” at a recent antisemitic wave in the country. Also on Thursday, Deutsche Bank stated “Never again is now.” The bank added that it has “unreservedly condemned the terrorist attacks in Israel on Oct. 7 and expressed concern about the humanitarian crisis unfolding in Gaza.”

A day after a Montreal synagogue was firebombed, a Jewish school and a Jewish daycare in Montreal were hit by bullets on Wednesday night. No one was in the schools at the time.

A Jewish man in Sydney says he is lucky to be alive after an antisemitic attack left him with a fractured spine and head injury.

Outside the Museum of Tolerance in Los Angeles, people were reportedly punched and pepper-sprayed as the center screened a film about the Holocaust.

In New York, there has reportedly been a 214% spike in antisemitic hate crimes in the past month, according to police data. Melissa Ugur, 20, accused of tearing down signs of hostages in Gaza and pepper-spraying a Jewish volunteer, allegedly said: “I’ll kill you Jews.” A school-board president in Upstate New York blamed Jews for the slave trade. (American Jews are reportedly buying more guns; Fox News created a new vertical to cover antisemitism.)

A teenager was arrested for allegedly kicking a rabbi in Paris.

In London, a 21-year-old has been charged with holding an antisemitic sign at an anti-Israel protest.

At Concordia University in Montreal, a woman screamed an antisemitic slur at a Jewish student.

During Wednesday night’s Republican primary debate in Miami, tech entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy made a comment that was widely seen as calling Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who is Jewish, a “Nazi.” Ramaswamy’s presidential campaign claims that he was misunderstood, having talked “quickly and kind of oscillated in his words.”

There was a bomb threat at a Georgia church, which is part of a messianic tradition and which media reports called a synagogue.

Videos circulated on social media purporting to show antisemitic protestors hitting a piñata with Israeli imagery.

The Minnesota chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), protested the censure of Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.), whom it claimed “is being targeted for her support for Palestinian human rights and calling for a ceasefire in response to Israel’s ruthless killing of more than 10,000 Palestinian civilians in Gaza, including more than 4,800 children.” (CAIR was an official partner in the White House’s national strategy to combat antisemitism.)

The Pink Floyd frontman Roger Waters, an antisemite, said Israel is “making up stories” and that Hamas was justified in its terror attacks.

In Edinburgh, Scotland, a 78-year-old veteran was assaulted at an anti-Israel protest.

A professional soccer team in Los Angeles condemned “recent actions and statements” of a former player, Stefany Ferrer Van Ginkel, who reportedly was seen “shouting ‘Heil Hitler!’ and giving the Sieg Heil salute out of the passenger side window of a car.”