In 1938--
It's one of those dates which I can never forget, and we all don't forget it--
When November 10 every year comes around,
I'm the one who remembers this day vividly,
while even my American friends-- American Jewish friends--
don't remember it unless they read finally about it.
This was the so-called Crystal Night.
That night,
I listened to the radio-- forbidden-- B.B.C.--
the night before and read all about what had happened in Paris...
and that...
measurements would be taken to avenge the death...
of this Herr vom Rath...
killed by a Jewish boy.
I listened to the radio at a friend's house,
and I rushed home, woke up the next morning.
My transportation to school was seven miles by bicycle.
I was fortunate. At that point, I still was allowed to have a bicycle.
All these things were taken away later.
I went through all these things-- lost everything.
But bicycle--
I went through seven miles of glass splinters.
It was amazing that the bicycle lasted.
And my dear colleague, Rudi Sonnenfeld,
was the main sports coach-- was still there--
and he sat there for a moment deciding what to do.
But there was no question. We took our bicycles...
and made a tour...
of the whole city of Berlin.
We came to Friedrichstrasse. It's a well-known term now.
There was a little,
very tiny cigar stop-- cigar shop--
The owner was a very, very old man-- tiny old gentleman.
But there were people standing around-- 40, 50 people.
And two of these Sturmabteilung-- S.A., not S.S.
S.S. are the one in the black uniforms,
and these are the brownshirts,
of course with all their equipment.
And they forced this very old gentleman...
to pick up the tiny glass splinters...
one by one.
And they forced this man to do this.
And they all were standing there and watching.
We didn't know what to think.
The only thing we could think of...
was help.
So we put our bicycles down.
Rudi and I, we went in front of that group...
that was surrounding this old gentleman,
went down on our knees and started...
picking up glass splinters one by one...
to help this man.
Briefly I looked at the two guys.
They didn't... blink. They didn't move.
Why did they not move, I asked myself.
Are they afraid that the people might agree with us?
I have never figured out what it was,
but I'm sure, in this particular situation,
that some of the people standing there...
disapproved of what the Nazis did.
But their disapproval was only silence and silence is what did the harm.