Brandenburg Remembers the Pogrom Night: Tributes From Cottbus to Perleberg

TVS News AI, editorially supervised, presents Brandenburg Remembers the Pogrom Night: Tributes From Cottbus to Perleberg.

On November 9, several cities will commemorate the victims of the Pogrom Night

Numerous cities across Brandenburg will remember the victims of the Pogrom Night of 1938 on November 9. The events stretch geographically from Potsdam to Perleberg; additional commemorations have been announced in places including Brandenburg an der Havel and Frankfurt (Oder).

The commemorations do not all begin at the same time or follow the same format. In Oranienburg, an event is scheduled for 11:30 a.m. at the memorial stone of the former Jewish prayer hall. The Jewish Cemetery is then due to be visited together.

Lea Streisand, State Rabbi Ariel Kirzon and Axel Drecoll, the director of the Memorial Sites Foundation, are expected to attend in Oranienburg. Their names illustrate the different perspectives coming together there: an author, a representative of Jewish life in Brandenburg and an expert voice from the Memorial Sites Foundation.

Perleberg is taking a different approach. A memorial hour at the stumbling stones in the old town is scheduled for 5 p.m. on November 9. The focus is therefore visibly placed on the specific locations in the city where the Nazis exercised their rule through persecution, violence and death.

In Potsdam, the Synagogue Center is organizing a commemoration. Mayor Noosha Aubel is expected to attend. Alongside Oranienburg, Perleberg, Brandenburg an der Havel and Frankfurt (Oder), Potsdam expands the list of Brandenburg cities marking the anniversary with their own commemorative formats.

The Pogrom Night Targeted Synagogues, Shops and People

The commemorative events recall the events of November 9, 1938. During the Pogrom Night, synagogues burned throughout Germany. Shops were looted and destroyed. Jewish people were beaten, arbitrarily arrested and murdered.

In Oranienburg, there is an additional historical connection: the Nazis established a concentration camp there. The memorial hour in front of the former Jewish prayer hall and the subsequent walk to the Jewish Cemetery therefore directly incorporate both locations into the act of remembrance. They recall not only the date of November 9, but also make visible that Nazi persecution had a fixed location in Brandenburg.

November 9 also has another historical significance: the fall of the Berlin Wall is marking its 37th anniversary. The day of remembrance for the Pogrom Night therefore coincides with another significant date in German history. The announced events explicitly focus on the victims of Nazi violence.

The “Jewish Kaleidoscope Brandenburg 2026” begins in Cottbus

The theme week “Jewish Kaleidoscope Brandenburg 2026” expands the program to include the present. It will open on November 8 in Cottbus with a film screening. Further events will follow through November 15.

Readings, exhibition tours and stumbling-stone cleaning activities are also part of the announced program. These formats offer different ways of engaging with the subject: readings open a window onto Jewish life, exhibition tours explore historical and present-day locations, and the activities at the stumbling stones connect responsibility for the past with practical work in the city.

The theme week thus pursues a clear goal: to make the diversity of Jewish life in Brandenburg visible. It begins one day before the commemorative day and continues for a week beyond it. November 8 marks the beginning in Cottbus, November 9 the centerpiece of the commemorative events and November 15 the end of the theme week.

Historical Responsibility and Present-Day Life Intersect

The most telling detail of the report lies in this connection. The memorial hours recall destroyed synagogues, looted shops and beatings, arrests and murders. The theme week then turns its attention toward the people and activities that shape Jewish life in Brandenburg today.

The announced locations also make it clear that remembrance does not take place at a single central site. In Oranienburg, three expected guests come together at the former prayer hall. In Perleberg, the stumbling stone in the old town is the meeting point. In Potsdam, the Synagogue Center is responsible for the commemoration, while Brandenburg an der Havel and Frankfurt (Oder) are also organizing events. Cottbus opens the week on Jewish life with the film screening.

For people interested in the culture of remembrance in Brandenburg, this provides a tangible schedule: a theme week from November 8 to 15, several commemorative events on November 9 and a program connecting historical crimes with Jewish life today.