The International March of the Living convened senior law enforcement representatives from Germany, other European countries and the United States in Berlin on Thursday for a program marking the 88th anniversary of Kristallnacht and reaffirming their responsibility to confront antisemitism and protect Jewish communities.
The gathering, titled “Not on Our Watch: Operationalizing Never Again,” took place at the New Synagogue–Centrum Judaicum. Partners included the German Police Union, the European Federation of Police Unions and the Jewish Community of Berlin.
Jochen Kopelke, federal chairman of the German Police Union and president of the European Federation of Police Unions, delivered the keynote address. In his prepared speech, he warned of rising homegrown antisemitism and called for greater political support and resources for police.
“Our country has incurred enormous guilt. It cannot absolve itself, now or ever,” Kopelke said, stressing Germany’s enduring responsibility to remember the Holocaust and prevent a recurrence of Nazi atrocities.
Holocaust survivor George Shefi, 94, traveled from Israel to address participants in the city he fled as a child. Almost 7 during the pogroms, he stayed inside his Berlin home as the violence unfolded. When he emerged, he discovered that the synagogue housing his school had been burned to the ground, according to organizers.
After the November 1938 pogroms, his mother sent him alone to Britain on a Kindertransport. He never saw her again; she was murdered at Auschwitz.
Shefi later lived in the United States before settling in Israel, where he volunteered for years with the Israel Police. He received Germany’s Federal Order of Merit in 2025 for his commitment to Holocaust education after decades of sharing his experiences with thousands of German students.
“My message to them is clear: Learn from what happened and commit to ensuring it never happens again,” Shefi said in a statement provided by organizers. “I am deeply concerned about antisemitism in Germany and around the world. Law enforcement officers are on the front lines of the fight against it and must remain vigilant.
“Sadly, Jews around the world are still not safe. The same hatred of Jews persists,” he added.
Kopelke in his prepared address said the Oct. 7, 2023, terrorist attacks had intensified incitement and hatred against Jews and Israel, directly affecting German police work.
“Hatred and incitement, vilification, threats, violent attacks and acts of terrorism must be given no space in our society, regardless of whom they target, whether online or offline,” he said.
He called for sufficient staffing and funding, better equipment, effective prevention strategies, interconnected digital systems and stronger coordination across Germany’s federal policing system. He also acknowledged work was needed within police ranks, including strengthening resistance to anti-democratic activities and expanding education about Jewish life.
“But without political leaders as close allies, we cannot make progress,” he said in the prepared remarks.
The gathering was part of an international educational program that brings senior police representatives to the March of the Living to study the Holocaust and their responsibility to protect Jewish communities at home. Kopelke participated in this year’s march and lit a torch dedicated to combating antisemitism alongside international colleagues, organizers said.
Additional partners in the Berlin event included Rutgers University’s Miller Center on Policing and Community Resilience and the University of Virginia Center for Public Safety and Justice.
Phyllis Greenberg Heideman, president of the International March of the Living, said the presence of law enforcement officers at the synagogue carried particular significance amid attacks on Jewish institutions.
“We hope the message from this gathering will reach police forces around the world: confronting antisemitism is a shared responsibility that demands action,” she said in the organizers’ statement.
The program also included an international police panel. The program listed participants from Germany, Estonia and the United States, with Marvin “Ben” Haiman, executive director of the University of Virginia’s Center for Public Safety and Justice, as moderator.
The event honored police officer Wilhelm Krützfeld, who, together with colleagues, intervened to protect the synagogue during the 1938 pogroms, preventing greater destruction by fire.
Kopelke’s prepared address invoked that intervention as an example of the responsibility that accompanies a police uniform: protecting human life and the dignity of every individual.
Paul Goldenberg, chairman of the “Operationalizing Never Again—Not on Our Watch” initiative, said protecting Jewish life meant ensuring Jews could practice their faith openly and without fear.
“Jews, like everyone else, deserve to bring their children to synagogue without fear, to wear a Star of David openly, and to gather, pray, and live fully as Jews in the countries they call home,” he said in the organizers’ statement. “Democracy must be defended where people live, gather and pray.”
