The Florida Holocaust Museum’s Annual Kristallnacht Commemoration will take place virtually on Monday, November 9th at 6:30 p.m. The program will commemorate Kristallnacht, also called the Night of Broken Glass, featuring a virtual conversation with Dr. Mark Wygoda.

Kristallnacht is also known as the Night of Broken Glass. On this night, Nazis burned synagogues, destroyed Jewish homes, schools and businesses, and killed Jewish people. After Kristallnacht, about 30,000 Jews were sent to concentration camps.

Dr. Mark Wygoda’s father, Hermann Wygoda, was a German-born Polish Jew who defied the Nazis throughout the war. Initially a smuggler to the Warsaw ghetto, Mr. Wygoda moved to Berlin in early 1943 where he worked undercover for nearly a year for a German business as a foreman, translator, and armed courier. He then escaped to German-occupied Italy where he joined the Italian partisans, becoming commander of an assault brigade and later an entire division. “Commandante Enrico”, as he was known to his troops, planned and directed attacks on enemy forces, negotiated prisoner exchanges, and helped liberate the city of Savona. After the war he received decorations from three nations, including a Bronze Star medal from the United States.

This event is FREE to attend virtually online via https://www.facebook.com/TheFHM.

For additional information about Hermann Wygoda’s book, In the Shadow of the Swastika, please visit: https://www.press.uillinois.edu/books/catalog/63adt4qa9780252071393.html