From Caracas to Santiago, B’nai B’rith communities across Latin America gathered to commemorate Kristallnacht, the Night of Broken Glass, also known as the November Pogroms. On Nov. 9 and 10, 1938, Nazis unleashed a wave of violent attacks against Jews across Germany and Austria: Synagogues were burned, Jewish homes and businesses were destroyed, and some 30,000 Jewish men were sent to concentration camps.

Commemorations in Venezuela, Costa Rica, Chile and Uruguay drew more than 1,700 people total, including descendants of Holocaust survivors, Uruguay’s president, diplomats, government officials and clergy of many faiths, united in memory of the victims and in a shared commitment to stand against antisemitism, hatred and indifference.

Venezuela

On Nov. 9, B’nai B’rith Venezuela marked Kristallnacht at its home in Caracas, now fully restored after the June 2026 earthquake. Five hundred people filled the hall to honor the victims and survivors of the Holocaust.

Annie Abecassis lit candles and shared testimony in memory of her great-grandparents, Holocaust survivors Aranka Grosz and Enrique Gunczler. B’nai B’rith Venezuela President Carla Belozercovsky recalled how the lodge helped survivors rebuild their lives in Venezuela after the war.

The commemoration was sponsored by Venezuela’s Jewish community and Yad Vashem.

Costa Rica

On Nov. 10, B’nai B’rith Costa Rica and the Jewish Community of Costa Rica came together at the main synagogue for a commemoration attended by 600 people, among them diplomats and government officials. Germany’s ambassador, Israel’s consul and the president of the Jewish Community of Costa Rica each lit a memorial candle.

Keynote speaker Junior Aguirre, a writer, journalist and professor in Costa Rica, offered a profound reflection on Kristallnacht as the cruel prelude to the Holocaust, reminding the audience that it unfolded amid silence, complicity and indifference around the world. The evening carried a clear message: We remember, so that silence never prevails again.

Chile

In Santiago, B’nai B’rith Chile joined the Jewish-Christian Confraternity of Chile; the Lutheran congregations La Reconciliación and El Redentor; the International Council of Christians and Jews (ICCJ); and the Beit Emunah Community to commemorate Kristallnacht. Jews and Christians filled La Reconciliación Evangelical Lutheran Church, united in remembrance and in their resolve to confront antisemitism and hatred in every form.

Uruguay

B’nai B’rith Uruguay, which has commemorated Kristallnacht every year since 1983, marked the anniversary on Nov. 12 before 600 people in a packed community hall.

Those in attendance included Uruguayan President Yamandú Orsi, Vice President Carolina Cosse and former President Julio Sanguinetti. Also present were the president and justices of the Supreme Court, the leaders of every political party, senators and representatives from across the political spectrum, current and former government ministers, Cardinal Daniel Sturla, archbishop of Montevideo, the apostolic nuncio and ambassadors from several countries, including Israel and the United States. They were joined by rabbis, community leaders, and national television, radio and print media.

The keynote speaker was Father Juan Andrés Verde, a young Catholic priest doing extraordinary work in one of the poorest neighborhoods. He helps residents find work and build their own homes, and he gives children and young people an education from their earliest years through high school. Several Jewish sponsors proudly support his work.

Verde’s message was direct: We gather not only to remember what happened 88 years ago, but to confront what happens today when people watch violence and do nothing to stop it, just as the world looked on while Jews in Germany faced brutality and indifference. He recalled Maximilian Kolbe, the Polish Catholic priest who was murdered at Auschwitz after offering to take the place of a fellow prisoner who had been sentenced to death in a starvation bunker.