Kristallnacht

I make a point of observing the anniversary of the Night of Broken Glass, or Kristallnacht in German. During the night of November 9th/10th in 1938, groups of Nazi thugs went on the rampage in German towns and cities, smashing Jewish-owned businesses and shops, looting and setting fire to them. Only because they were owned by people who had marked their religion down as Jewish. In the aftermath, many streets were littered with broken glass, which led to the German euphemism of Kristallnacht (Crystal Night).

With the anniversary of the 1914/1919 Armistice just a day ago, it is good to also remember the atrocities of the Second World War. Lest we forget.


Postscript: I specifically refer to the First World War as running until 1919, as the Peace was not declared until that year. Here in Lewis in particular, with the Iolaire Disaster of 1 January 1919, the Great War certainly didn't end until 1919.

Wednesday 12 November

Overcast today, but the sun is trying to poke through the high cloud layer. Large parhelion at one stage. It's quiet today, which makes a change from the recent wild and windy weather. However, it's November, this is the Western Isles, so what do you expect. I'm not complaining, don't get me wrong. Fantastic cloudscapes, beautiful sunsets - and they are now happening in front of my window, which has a view southeast to southwest.


This picture dates back to last Wednesday, as I was returning to Stornoway. More of that sort on this link. I should also tell you that there is a large number of pictures there of the Coastguard helicopter exercising off the ferry as it sails across the Minch. This video, full of helicopter noise, shows the winchman going up and down, carrying a stretcher. The time was 7.30pm, so it was dark. Give it a minute to process on YouTube.