UPDATE: Rally against Nazi gathering, Saturday, Nov. 9, Kansas City’s Liberty Memorial
The Chronicle’s story below mentioned that at the time the printed edition of the paper went to press, no rally against the neo-Nazi gathering had been planned. By late Wednesday afternoon, Nov. 6, a diverse group of civil rights and human rights organizations, city officials and concerned individuals decided to gather to say NO to hatred and YES to human rights. This rally will take place at 3 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 9, at the Liberty Memorial, located at 100 W. 26th Street in Kansas City, Mo.
“This opposition rally is being planned by a wide coalition of community organizations which have come together to show our opposition to hate, and to let the NSM know they are not welcome in Kansas City,” noted the Jewish Community Relations Bureau|American Jewish Committee in an email to supporters.
The event is scheduled at the same time as a rally by the National Socialist Movement (Nazis), to be held in downtown Kansas City. The NSM rally is expected to draw participants from around the country. The theme of this rally is immigration.
The opposition rally is being held on Shabbat. Among those speaking will be JCRB|AJC Board Chair Dr. David Rudman, M.D., and Rabbi Mark Levin of Congregation Beth Torah.
An email to Beth Torah members noted that “Rabbi Levin reminds us, as we are about to celebrate Chanukah, that the Maccabees who did not fight on Shabbat were killed. Around 67 B.C.E., Mattathias and the Hasmoneans declared that it was permitted to fight on Shabbat to defend against attack to save lives.”
The board of directors of the Midwest Center for Holocaust Education is also making its supporters aware of the event.
The Liberty Memorial rally is planned as a non-violent, non-confrontation event where individuals can gather peacefully to demonstrate their opposition to hate and to the National Socialist Movement’s presence in Kansas City.
The story published in the Nov. 7 print edition of The Chronicle follows in its original form:
Sunday marks the 75th anniversary of Kristallnacht — the Night of Broken Glass. For two days, Nov. 9 and 10, 1938, a wave of anti-Jewish violence took place throughout Germany, Austria and the recently occupied parts of the Sudetenland in Czechoslovakia. The day before this momentous anniversary, Saturday, Nov. 9, the National Socialist Movement is expected to hold a rally in Kansas City. No one knows exactly where, but it is expected to take place between 3 and 5 p.m.
The debate is raging on blogs and Facebook about what the Jewish community should do in the face of this rally. Peaceful protests have been suggested as a way to stand together and demonstrate the Jewish community’s unity in opposition to the NSM’s message of hate. At press time Tuesday afternoon, The Chronicle had not heard of a protest actually being planned.
Last week, following news of the planned rally, the Kansas City, Mo., City Council unanimously passed a resolution opposing the hateful racist and anti-Semitic beliefs of the NSM. The same resolution urges all residents to express their moral outrage and morally confront the NSM’s malicious rhetoric through words and actions on Nov. 9 and every day of the year, but not to physically confront the neo-Nazis, which only plays into their hands by generating more publicity for their vile and violent group.
Temple Israel congregant Drew Bergerson doesn’t support a counter demonstration because it would only draw further attention to the NSM’s cause.
“But citizens who cherish their democracy — religious or secular, of all faiths, ethnicities, nationalities, sexualities, and so on — will not sit by idly when they abuse the rights of free speech and free association to disrespect the victims of the Nazi regime and to spread their offensive ideas of racism, anti-Semitism and homophobia,” he wrote in an email to fellow congregants and other friends.
Instead, he suggests protesting the NSM rally by supporting an anti-hate group, in this case the Midwest Center for Holocaust Education.
“For every five minutes that they march, we ask you to donate $3 to Holocaust education in our community and region, or $18/hour, representing the Hebrew word for life. Their rally is planned for two hours,” Bergerson wrote.
Rabbi Jacques Cukierkorn liked the idea, as did his friend and former faith writer for the Kansas City Star Bill Tammeus. The two have helped spread the word about Bergerson’s idea. The Reform rabbi sent a letter to the editor of the Star and also contacted local radio and television stations.
“The time for Jews to let Nazis march and do nothing is long past,” Rabbi Cukierkorn said.
“I am encouraging my congregation to pledge donations to the Midwest Center for Holocaust Education, a local organization that fights intolerance and hate,” the rabbi said. “I urge all decent and caring people in Kansas City to do the same: Choose a worthy anti-hate cause to support as a protest to the NSM demonstration.”
Donations to MCHE can be made directly on its website, www.mche.org.
“Every day people can take a stand and make a difference in battling hatred,” the rabbi continued. “I learned this anew when Bill Tammeus and I co-wrote ‘They Were Just People: Stories of Rescue in Poland During the Holocaust.’ Now it is our turn!”
While MCHE did not seek these donations, MCHE President Carol Sader said they would certainly welcome the contributions.
“I think it’s an appropriate response to the presence of the Nazi group in our community,” said Sader, noting MCHE teaches the history of the Holocaust, applying its lessons to counter indifference, intolerance and genocide.
“We consider this a statement on Temple Israel’s concern about the demonstration that is planned here for this city. It’s certainly a peaceful reaction in support of MCHE’s mission to educate and to inform against violence and hatred and anti-Semitism,” Sader continued.
“MCHE would certainly put those donations to very productive use in a very positive vain for peaceful and educated responses to hate groups.”
Kristallnacht remembered
The Midwest Center for Holocaust Education will mark the 75th anniversary of Kristallnacht — the Night of Broken Glass — at 7 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 10, at Congregation Beth Torah. The program, “Remembering the Synagogues,” will feature readings and photographs commemorating the synagogues destroyed during the course of the violence.
Admission is free, but reservations are requested at 913-327-8196 or .
