Bullies, Bystanders, and Upstanders: The Slippery Slope of Complicity

There’s one day next week that has profound historical significance. And no, it’s not November 8.

It’s the day after.

November 9 is a notable date in modern German history.

German historians have referred to it as a “Day of Fate” or “Schicksalstag” because several significant events have occurred on this date.

What events have happened on November 9, the “Day of Fate”?

In recent memory, many of us remember the fall of the Berlin Wall and the unification of the former West and East Germany.

On November 9, 1989, an East German governmental official unintentionally announced at a televised press conference that East Germans could freely travel to West Germany. Thousands rushed the border and the wall soon fell.

November 8-9 was also the date of Adolf Hitler’s failed Beer Hall Putsch in Munich in 1923. The Nazis, however, seized power ten years later and unleashed state sponsored terror and violence on November 9-10, 1938, which became the turning point of the Holocaust.

On this night, “The Night of Broken Glass,” or “Kristallnacht,” Jewish-owned businesses, synagogues, schools, homes, hospitals, and cemeteries were vandalized, destroyed, or burned.

The broken glass refers to the damaged windows that were shattered during the plundering. Jewish communities throughout Germany, Austria, and the Sudentenland were targeted and dozens of Jews died on this night alone, with thousands of Jewish men soon arrested and sent to concentration camps.

Members of the Nazi party had initiated the violence, but ordinary Germans, including the Hitler Youth, either took part in the pogrom or stood by as it spread nationwide.

The events that led to the Holocaust have been researched and explored from various perspectives and disciplines. It was unprecedented and horrific.

For most, it is difficult to understand how ordinary individuals could have perpetrated such unspeakable evil.

Reflecting on November 9th, “The Night of Broken Glass”

When commemorating “The Night of Broken Glass” this year, perhaps we can think about the ramifications of remaining a bystander and how we can act more like upstanders.

There was no unified resistance movement in Nazi Germany, yet there were still courageous individuals, upstanders, who refused to conform and were resisters and rescuers. Despite overwhelming odds, they engaged in interfaith action and ethical leadership.

Let history be our guide. There are devastating consequences to intolerance and indifference. 

Take a stand and make a social impact through education, prevention, and intervention.