LAST weekend marked the anniversary of Pogromnacht, not Kristallnacht.

On this anniversary we called on the international community to cease using the Nazis’ terminology for such a grave event. Kristallnacht – broken glass, is used to make little of what befell the Jews of Germany and Austria on these days. We must recognise that there was a lot more broken than glass.

On November 9 and 10, 1938, Jewish homes and shops were ransacked and synagogues destroyed.

Jews were forced to pay for the damages inflicted upon them. Many were tortured in the streets and as many as 30,000 were sent to concentration camps never to return.

In future we should commemorate November 9 and 10 and honour those who suffered by ceasing to use the Nazi term for the event.

Let’s begin to call it what it really was – a notoriously grave pogrom against the Jewish people of Germany and Austria.

Annemarie Werner

Evangelical Pastor, Vaterunser Kirche, Berlin