Kristallnacht commemorative program 2023

By Ginny Segaloff, Kristallnacht Commemoration Program chair and Catholic-Jewish Dialogue member

The Catholic-Jewish Dialogue of Collier County invites the entire community to our annual Kristallnacht Commemoration. This year’s event, sponsored by Jewish Federation of Greater Naples and Diocese of Venice in Florida, will take place on Sunday, Nov. 5 at St. Elizabeth Seton Catholic Church on 5225 Golden Gate Parkway, Naples at 2:30 p.m.

Please register for this free event at www.jewishnaples.org so that we can plan accordingly. Refreshments will be served.

Our speaker will be Rabbi David Maayan of Saint Leo University Center for Catholic-Jewish Studies. Rabbi Maayan’s extensive teaching background has been dedicated to promoting understanding between Catholics and Jews.

Rabbi Maayan’s topic will discuss Catholic-Jewish relations after the Holocaust with a focus on the concept of “the other.” The Holocaust awakened many to the horrific possibilities of an approach that demonizes “the other” in order to construct a "positive" self-image for their own agenda or cause.

This topic reflects the same theme as Pastor Martin Niemöller’s poem:

First They Came
by Pastor Martin Niemöller

First they came for the Communists

And I did not speak out

Because I was not a Communist

Then they came for the Socialists

And I did not speak out

Because I was not a Socialist

Then they came for the trade unionists

And I did not speak out

Because I was not a trade unionist

Then they came for the Jews

And I did not speak out

Because I was not a Jew

Then they came for me

And there was no one left To speak out for me