Berlin Wall collapse on day of darker deed

BERLIN, Nov. 9 (UPI) -- Not all Germans say they will remember publicly the fall of the Berlin Wall because it is on the day Nazis began a pogrom in which nearly 100 German Jews died.

Many Germans indicated they would skip ceremonies marking the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall that divided East and West Berlin during the Cold War because on Nov. 9, 1938, Nazis began the Kristallnacht pogrom in which 1,400 synagogues and prayer rooms were set on fire and German Jews were killed, The Times of London reported Monday.

The celebrations were concentrated in Berlin along the route of the Berlin Wall. German newspapers call Nov. 9 a "Day of German Destiny."

Kristallnacht, or Night of Broken Glass, refers to the vast number of broken windows in synagogues, Jewish-owned stores, community centers and homes damaged or destroyed during the two days of pogroms, the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum said on its Web site. Rioters burned or destroyed 267 synagogues, vandalized or looted 7,500 Jewish businesses, and killed at least 91 Jewish people.

Other sources put the number killed at 99.