The Cost of Indifference: Why Kristallnacht Still Matters Today (Op-Ed)
Editor’s Note: This Commentary was originally published in the San Antonio Express-News on November 13, 2025.
NOVEMBER 13, 2025 –
On the night of Nov. 9, 1938, terror swept across Germany and Austria. Synagogues were set ablaze, Jewish-owned shops and homes were vandalized, and streets glittered with shattered glass.
More than 90 Jews were murdered, and thousands were arrested and sent to concentration camps. The world came to know that night as Kristallnacht—the “Night of Broken Glass.”
But what made that night truly devastating was not only the violence itself — it was the silence that followed.
The world saw the flames and broken windows, heard the cries for help and turned away. Governments condemned the attacks but refused to open their doors to refugees.
Communities expressed sorrow but took no meaningful action. The indifference of the world sent a message to the Nazi regime that persecution could continue without consequence.
Eighty-seven years later, Kristallnacht remains more than a historical memory — it serves as a warning.
In a world once again filled with rising antisemitism, political polarization and dehumanizing rhetoric, the echoes of Kristallnacht feel uncomfortably close.
Too often, the suffering of others is still greeted by silence.
Last week, we gathered as a San Antonio community to commemorate Kristallnacht.
The evening is not about dwelling on tragedy — it is about recognizing what happens when hatred is tolerated and when good people choose inaction. It reminds us that intolerance starts with words, with scapegoating, with the erosion of truth and with the willingness of ordinary people to look away.
Today, we have a choice.
We can allow indifference to numb us, or we can recognize the lessons history has already taught and stand up.
At the Holocaust Memorial Museum of San Antonio, we teach these lessons to new generations, ensuring they understand that freedom and justice are fragile, and that democracy depends on the courage to stand against hatred in all its forms.
The Holocaust showed us the devastating consequences when too many remain bystanders in the face of hate. Each of us has the power — and the responsibility — to be an upstander: to speak out when we see prejudice, to defend the dignity of others and to ensure that the voices of hatred never go unanswered.
When we honor the memory of Kristallnacht, we are not simply recalling a night of broken glass — we are reaffirming our responsibility to prevent history from repeating itself.
The shards that once littered the streets of Europe reflect an enduring truth: the price of indifference is measured in human lives.
The past has already shown us the path silence can take.
The question for our time is: “Now that you know, what will you do?”
Leslie Davis Met is director of the Holocaust Memorial Museum of San Antonio, a department of the Jewish Federation of San Antonio, which is the only museum and education center of its kind in South Texas.