March of the Living global interfaith initiative to commemorate Kristallnacht: #LetThereBeLight

– #LetThereBeLight campaign will invite people of all religions from around the world to illuminate homes, institutions and places of worship

– Frankfurt’s main synagogue will be illuminated, as well as other religious institutions around the world

– Personal prayers and messages from the virtual campaign to be projected onto the Walls of the Old City of Jerusalem

On November 9, 1938, a two-day pogrom began during which the Nazis burned more than 1,400 synagogues and Jewish institutions in Germany and Austria on ‘Kristallnacht’ (The Night of Broken Glass), a critical moment in the chain of events that led to the Holocaust.

On November 9, 2020, March of the Living will mark Kristallnacht with a message of unity and hope, through a unique international campaign. Titled “Let There Be Light”, March of the Living will invite individuals, institutions and Houses of Worship across the world to keep their lights on during the night of November 9th, as a symbol of solidarity and mutual commitment in the shared battle against anti-Semitism, racism, hatred and intolerance.

As part of this historic virtual initiative, people from all over the world will be able to add their voice to the campaign. Individuals of all religions and backgrounds are invited to write personal messages of hope in their own words at the campaign website: www.motl.org/let-there-be-light

The main synagogue in Frankfurt (one of the few not destroyed on Kristallnacht) will be illuminated as well as and at other places of religious and spiritual significance across the world. Personal messages and prayers from the virtual campaign will be projected on the walls of the Old City of Jerusalem. As such, against the backdrop of rising anti-Semitism and racism, the shadow of Covid-19, these individual expressions of optimism and unity will help illuminate the world against darkness and hatred.

March of the Living is the largest annual international Holocaust education program of its kind in the world. The event is considered a major part of the annual Yom Hashoah commemorations. To date, more than 300,000 March of the Living participants, from 52 countries have walked the route of the march, the 3.2-kilometer-long railroad tracks from Auschwitz to Birkenau.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, for the first time since its inception, the annual March did not take place in Poland this year. Instead, as part of a virtual commemorative project, March of the Living launched an international digital initiative in which Israel’s President Reuven Rivlin was the first to lay a virtual plaque on the virtual train track of Birkenau, followed by Holocaust survivors and their families. In total, more than 18,000 people from 60 countries around the world took part in the online event.