A Holocaust survivor’s visit to her childhood home transports her to the past

(November 9, 2021 / JNS) Standing in the foyer of her childhood home at Reilstraße 18 in Halle, Germany, nonagenarian Eve Kugler recalled fleeing her hometown soon after Kristallnacht when she was a young girl. Now, 83 years later, her small frame further accentuated by the towering doorway, she was, if even for a moment, both 90- and 7-year old Eve at once.

As part of the March of the Living UK delegation to Germany last month, Eve took advantage of the offer to visit Halle ahead of Kristallnacht, the devastating pogrom against Jews, their businesses and their religious institutions that took place in Germany and Austria on the night of Nov. 9-10, 1938. Halle is a beautiful city, a two-and-a-half-hour drive southwest of Berlin. With its wide avenues in some areas and narrow cobblestoned streets in others, it has become a magnet for university students and young families.