Eighty-seven years ago this week, across Germany and Austria, Jewish life was reduced to shards. On the night of November 9, 1938, Kristallnacht, the Night of Broken Glass, synagogues were set ablaze, Jewish shops looted, homes destroyed, and families torn apart while the world watched in silence. It marked the beginning of the end for European Jewry.
Among the children who lived through that terror was Eve Kugler, who passed away earlier this year at the age of 94. Born in 1931 in Halle, Germany, she was just seven when she saw her father’s department store smashed and her home ransacked. Her father was arrested and sent to Buchenwald; her family fled to France with only a suitcase each and a handful of marks, before eventually making their way to the United States and later the UK.
Eve went on to build a life defined not by trauma, but by purpose. She became a journalist, an author, and one of Britain’s most powerful Holocaust educators — sharing her testimony in schools, synagogues, and at remembrance events around the world. She also joined us on the March of the Living, where her calm strength and humility left an indelible mark on thousands of participants who walked beside her through the remnants of Auschwitz and Birkenau.
Eve’s story reminds us that history does not repeat itself in the same way, but it does echo. Today, those echoes are growing louder. Across Europe and beyond, antisemitism has re-emerged in forms we thought consigned to history. Jews are once again hiding symbols of their identity; synagogues require armed guards; conspiracy theories and blood libels circulate freely on social media; Jewish students face intimidation on university campuses. The silence and complacency that allowed hatred to fester in the 1930s must not be repeated in 2025.
Yet amid the fear and uncertainty, we also see something extraordinary: a new generation of young Jews embracing their identity with confidence. They wear their Magen Davids proudly, they march with survivors, and they speak out when others look away. That is the legacy of people like Eve Kugler.
Because remembrance alone is not enough. Our response must be Jewish pride. Kristallnacht sought to erase Jewish existence from public life. Eighty-seven years later, the greatest act of defiance is to live openly and proudly as Jews; to educate, to create, to build, and to stand together. Jewish pride is not a slogan; it is the quiet, steadfast continuation of everything our enemies sought to destroy.
Every spring, on March of the Living, I see that pride made tangible. Thousands of people — survivors, students, families — march from Auschwitz to Birkenau, wrapped in Israeli and other flags, singing “Am Yisrael Chai.” The people of Israel live. It is not just a song; it is a declaration. That is the answer to every act of hatred and every attempt to erase us.
Eve embodied that same resilience. She faced the darkest chapter of our history and chose to devote her voice to the light. She taught not through rhetoric but through presence — by standing before young people and saying simply, 'This is what happened.' This is what hate can do. And this is why you must never let it happen again. Her courage was quiet, but it carried further than she could have imagined.
On this 87th anniversary of Kristallnacht, we remember the shattered glass, but we also remember what was never broken: the Jewish spirit. From the ruins of synagogues rose new communities; from the ashes of hate emerged generations who refused to disappear.
Eve Kugler’s story will continue to be told on every March, in every classroom, and in every act of Jewish courage. Her legacy is a reminder that while the glass was shattered, we are unbreakable.
Scott Saunders is the CEO of International March of the Living, Founder and CEO, March of the Living UK
Written in collaboration with the International March of the Living.