Gary Rosenthal Launches the Kristallnacht Project

Artist Gary Rosenthal has launched a new and incredibly meaningful project called the “Kristallnacht Project.” Gary was inspired to commemorate the “Kristallnacht” — also known as the night of broken glass — which was a night in November of

Artist's Rendering of Planned Kristallnacht Wall

1938 when thousands of synagogues, businesses and homes were destroyed in a single night by the Germans. This night of devastation marked the beginning of the Holocaust.

Gary elaborates more on The Kristallnacht project on his blog as follows: “In remembrance of “The Night of Broken Glass,” we hope to create a memorial wall in honor of the millions who lost their lives during the Holocaust. In the same way as the Hiddur Mitzvah Project, people all over the country, and perhaps the world, will design one foot square glass tiles, some with a white border and some with black. These will then be fused solid and put together into one wall, symbolically putting back together the shards of that broken time. The black represents

the evil of the past and the white represents the good hope of the future. There is always some good and always some bad as the design shows. The final wall will be displayed for all to see.” The location of the finished Kristallnacht Wall is yet to be determined.  It is Gary’s

ultimate hope to establish a database of information about the synagogues that were lost that dark night, so that they will never be forgotten.

Gary welcomes individuals and groups to create mosaic glass panels that will ultimately become part of the

larger Kristallnacht wall. Another interesting aspect of the program is that Gary is giving away a free candlestick kit to Holocaust survivors. The finished kits are returned to Gary for final assembly and then returned to the survivor. The only charge is $18 for shipping and processing.

To read more about Gary’s inspiring project, see his Kristallnacht project website.