Curran marks Kristallnacht with a trip to Berlin

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Nassau County Executive Laura Curran joined local spiritual leaders and members of the North American Board of Rabbis in accepting an invitation from the Foreign Ministry of Germany and the Goethe Institute to attend the 80th commemoration of Kristallnacht in Berlin.

The trip included meetings with German government officials and a talk by Chancellor Angela Merkel. “It was an honor to represent Nassau County, and to witness for our vibrant Jewish community,” Curran said.

Curran marched with several Long Islanders and 2,000 Berliners to a service at the Holocaust Memorial, where she read aloud names of Berliners who perished during the Shoah.

She attended services at Rykestrasse Synagogue in East Berlin, Germany’s largest synagogue, with keynote speaker Chancellor of Germany Angela Merkel.

Curran also marked the 29th anniversary of the Berlin Wall coming down, met with members of the Saxon State Parliament and members of the American Jewish Committee’s Berlin Office, visited the Synagogue Hüttenweg in West Berlin and participated in multiple Jewish heritage tours and a Shabbat observance.

Her trip was supported through the Visitors Programme of the Federal Republic of Germany, which organizes trips for foreign leaders, and was at no cost to Nassau taxpayers.