A U.S. Neo-Nazi group called the National Socialist Movement rallied outside of a Kansas City, Mo., courthouse over the weekend in commemoration of the 75th anniversary of Kristallnacht, “The Night of Broken Glass,” when Nazi forces terrorized and torched Jewish towns and neighborhoods in Germany and parts of Austria, killing 500 Jews.
The group teamed up with white supremacist group Aryan Nations, the Sadistic Souls Motorcycle Club and at least one affiliation of the Ku Klux Klan for the rally Saturday that has been planned for months, ABC News reported.
“If you are working for a slaves wage, making barely enough to feed your family and are tired of seeing the corruption that is crippling our land, the time to get active in this fight is now,” a leaflet for the event reads.
Counter-protesters belonging to SHARP (Skinheads Against Racial Prejudice), the Latino Coalition of Kansas City, the Ida B Wells Coalition Against Racism and Police Brutality, and Occupy Kansas City outnumbered the Neo-Nazis in at least a 3:1 ratio, ABC News reported.
Video from the event posted by Occupy Kansas City shows the two sides yelling at each other. A Neo-Nazi raises his hand in a Hitler salute, and another member rips apart a tallit, a Jewish prayer shawl, as people scream in outrage, Vocativ reported.
Kristallnacht (literally “crystal night”), refers to the shards of broken glass from smashed windows. Some 500 Jews were killed in the attacks on Nov. 9 and 10, 1938. More than 30,000 were arrested and sent to concentration camps, more than 1,000 synagogues were burned down, and 7,000 Jewish businesses were destroyed or damaged, Arutz Sheva reported.
Historians estimate up to 1,500 people died in the days surrounding the attacks, which started in the Hesse region of Germany, and then spread across the German Reich, ABC News reported.
• Jessica Chasmar can be reached at jchasmar@washingtontimes.com.
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