CAM Participates in Official Kristallnacht Commemoration in Uruguayan Capital of Montevideo

Combat Antisemitism Movement (CAM) representatives — including Director of Hispanic Outreach Shay Salamon — participated last week in the official commemoration of the 84th anniversary of Kristallnacht, or “Night of Broken Glass,” in the Uruguayan capital of Montevideo.

The event — organized by B’nai B’rith of Uruguay and the New Jewish Congregation of Montevideo — was attended by top Uruguayan officials, including President Dr. Luis Lacalle Pou, Vice President Beatriz Argimón, and Intendant of Montevideo Carolina Cosse, as well as numerous lawmakers, religious leaders, community activists, and youth movement members.

Kristallnacht survivors and their relatives lit candles to mark the anniversary of the infamous night of Nov. 9-10, 1938, when hundreds of synagogues were burned across Nazi Germany and thousands of Jewish-owned businesses were damaged or destroyed in a brutal program. Nearly 100 Jews were murdered and around 30,000 more were rounded up and sent to concentration camps, in an ominous turning point in history and a key juncture in the evolution of the subsequent mass genocide of the Jews perpetrated by the Nazi regime during World War II.

Also joining the candle-lighting ceremony were President Lacalle Pou, Ambassador of Israel to Uruguay Yoed Magen, B’nai B’rith of Uruguay President Franklin Rosenfeld, and Uruguayan Undersecretary of Education and Culture Prof. Ana Ribeiro.

“Because of what happened and is happening, we are here today like other audiences around the world exercising the legitimate and essential right to memory,” Rosenfeld said.

Prof. Ribeiro recalled in her speech the horrors of the Holocaust, noting, “Christmas cards were made with the skin of the Jews.”

She also expressed admiration for the global Jewish community’s commitment to Holocaust remembrance and education.

The event ended with a liturgy and a performance of “Shema Yisrael” by Israeli singer Sarit Hadad.