B’nai B’rith commemorated the 86th anniversary of the 1938 November Pogroms, also known as Kristallnacht or the Night of Broken Glass, in events throughout Latin America, attended by dignitaries, Jewish community members and special guests.

An interfaith commemoration was held at the Lutheran Church in Buenos Aires, attended by diplomats from Israel, the U.S., Germany and Chile, as well as leaders of the Jewish-Christian Dialogue in Argentina. President of B’nai B’rith Argentina Susana Chalon delivered a speech, reflecting on Kristallnacht as a precursor to the Holocaust and condemning the events of Oct. 7 as a brutal pogrom and a catalyst for the surge in global anti-Semitism.

The B’nai B’rith Hebrew Fraternity of Venezuela held a commemoration in Caracas, featuring two second-generation Holocaust survivors and Italy’s Ambassador to Venezuela Giovanni Umberto De Vito. Speaking at the event, B’nai B’rith Venezuela President Carla Belozercovsky emphasized the importance of remembering Kristallnacht, especially 13 months after Oct. 7 and in the wake of the recent violent attacks on Jewish and Israeli tourists in Amsterdam.

At the Holocaust Memorial in São Paulo, Claudia Roth, Germany’s minister of state for Culture and the Media, delivered a powerful keynote address condemning the rise of anti-Semitism and denouncing last week’s brutal violence against Jews and Israelis in Amsterdam, calling it “an unacceptable copy of Kristallnacht.”

In Costa Rica, more than 500 people attended a commemoration that featured keynote speaker Pilar Rahola, who condemned rising anti-Semitism in Barcelona and Europe. She warned that pogroms lead to greater violence, racism and the rise of extremist, anti-Semitic governments. The event was also attended by B’nai B’rith Director of Latin American Affairs Eduardo Kohn; acting Foreign Minister Lydia Peralta; former President José Figueres; and President of B’nai B’rith Costa Rica Joseph Gabriel, who highlighted Kristallnacht as the beginning of the Holocaust and a troubling resurgence of Jew hatred, seen recently in Amsterdam and France. He declared, “Our decades of ‘never again’ have turned into ‘never again is now.’”

In Uruguay, 700 people attended a remembrance ceremony, including President Luis Lacalle Pou, former presidents Julio María Sanguinetti and Luis Alberto Lacalle, and 2024 presidential candidates Álvaro Delgado and Yamandú Orsi. Argentine Jewish journalist Alfredo Leuco delivered the keynote address, recounting his experience witnessing the aftermath of Hamas’ brutal Oct. 7 attacks on Israel and emphasizing that today, when Jews are attacked, “we respond.”

During two dark nights on Nov. 8 and 9 of 1938 in Germany and Austria, more than 1,000 synagogues were set on fire, thousands of Jewish-owned businesses were destroyed and countless Jewish homes and community centers were plundered. More than 96 Jews were killed.

By remembering Kristallnacht, we keep this pivotal event in Jewish history alive in our collective memory—especially as recent violence against Jews in Amsterdam serves as a stark reminder that pogroms are not just remnants of the past.