A silent march through Groningen to commemorate Kristallnacht – the night when Nazis in Germany attacked Jewish homes and shops, marking the start of the Jewish persecution – has been canceled because of the situation in the Middle East.
“We have decided not to go ahead with the outdoors part and focus on events in the synagogue,” said Geert Volders, director of the Stichting Folkingestraat Synagoge, which organises the march.
The cancellation is a precautionary measure and the organisers have not received threats, he told local broadcasters.
“We don’t have any indications that something will happen, but we don’t want to take any risks and have decided to cancel the march planned for November 5,” he said. “We don’t want the march to be viewed as a demonstration because it is not.”
The synagogue director also said the organisers did not think it was responsible in this time of “extreme polarisation and emotions” to ask volunteers to make sure things went smoothly.
