POPE Benedict XVI marked today's 70th anniversary of the Kristallnacht, a prelude to the Holocaust, by recalling the agony he felt as a boy growing up in Nazi Germany.
An unwilling member of the Hitler Youth who deserted the German army towards the end of World War II, the leader of the world's Roman Catholics, who turned 81 in April, urged younger generations to shun all forms of discrimination.
Recalling the "sad events of the night of 9-10 November 1938, when the Nazi fury was unleashed against the Jews", the pope said "even today, I feel pain for what happened in these tragic circumstances, of which the memory must serve to ensure that such horrors never occur again".
It is good that the Pope recalls this disgusting event. It was a milestone in Nazi steps to their other horrors.
This is better than a previous post I had to make
The pogrom, also known as the Night of Broken Glass, saw Nazi thugs plunder Jewish businesses throughout Germany, torch some 300 synagogues and round up some 30,000 Jewish men for deportation to concentration camps.
Some 90 Jews were murdered in the orgy of violence.
The pope last month backed the beatification of his controversial World War II predecessor Pius XII defending the wartime pontiff's actions during a "complex historical moment".
His stance has sparked bitter debate and tension between Catholics and Jews.
I do not understand beatification - but it is what Popes do. However what did Pius XII do to warrant this. Presumably kept the Church intact through a time of conflict.
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