November 9 pogroms showed coming Nazi brutality

"I can still clearly remember the morning of November 10," said W. Michael Blumenthal. "My father was arrested early in the morning. Amid the commotion and despite the fact that my mother had forbidden me to do so, I went outside without being noticed. I saw the broken shop windows on Kurfürstendamm boulevard and smoke

‘Kristallnacht’ not strong enough term for anti-Jewish riots

Words have meaning. They shape how people feel about an issue, remember events and respond to developments that affect their lives. For decades, people in Germany have referred to the anti-Jewish violence that cascaded across the country on November 9, 1938, as the "Kristallnacht" or "Reichskristallnacht." The translation "Night of Broken Glass" is widely used in English. In

Germany mulls ban on buying sex to fight exploitation

Bundestag President Julia Klöckner, of the center-right Christian Democrats (CDU), recently implied that Germany had become the "brothel of Europe" — reigniting the national debate about sex work. In a speech read out at an award ceremony on Tuesday, Klöckner criticized Germany's current legislation, saying sex workers are not adequately protected. "I am firmly convinced that we must finally

France’s ‘yellow vest’ activists find a new voice on stage

It's Sunday afternoon, and 10 people are gathered for a theater rehearsal in a community hall in Lille, a city in northern France. Most of the amateur actors did not get to know each other through the arts scene. They met during France's  "yellow vests" protests.  The grassroots protest movement was at its height in 2018

Defense brings Turkey and Germany closer

Russia's invasion of Ukraine sparked a rethink in Germany's security policy: Since then, Berlin has been trying to support Ukraine while also bolstering its own defense capabilities.  "The war in Ukraine has shown that NATO has insufficient production. Since the start of the war, European countries in particular have been trying to increase their manufacturing capacity,"

November 9: A fateful day in Germany

The date on which the monarchy fell in 1918, Adolf Hitler staged his failed coup attempt in 1923, the Nazis and antisemitic mobs attacked synagogues and Jewish homes and businesses in 1938, and the Berlin Wall fell in 1989, November 9 is known as the "day of destiny" in Germany. DW surveys some moments that set

Why North Korea’s Women’s Youth Football Dominates

North Korea's women have won back-to-back U-17 World Cup titles after defeating the Netherlands 3-0 in Morocco. It was the fourth time that the country has won the competition. With the country's U-20 team winning their third World Cup in 2024, North Korea's women have cemented their status as the dominant force in women's youth football. But what is it

Pope Leo Meets Belgian Clergy Abuse Survivors

Pope Leo XIV met on Saturday with a group of people who were sexually abused by members of the clergy in Belgium. The group of fifteen were victims of abuse when they were minors, the Holy See Press Office said.  Many of the survivors had previously met with the late Pope Francis during his 2024 visit to Belgium, the Vatican

Ukraine battle for Pokrovsk reaches a pivotal point

The battle for Pokrovsk has been the subject of military reports for days. For Ukrainian troops, the entrenched fighting on this stretch of the front line is critical. Twenty-one months after the Russian invasion of Avdiivka, a suburb of Donetsk, Pokrovsk could now be taken by Russian troops as another logistical hub, which would be crucial for control of

Where Berlin Wall sections are found around the world

Germany's infamous symbol of division, the Berlin Wall, split West Berlin — an isolated enclave of the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) — from East Berlin, in the German Democratic Republic (GDR) for 28 years. Construction began in 1961 under the orders of the GDR's communist leadership, following the flight of approximately 3 million people to
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