Morris Plains Girl Marks Kristallnacht, Veterans Day, Rabin Memorial

Abigail Bilmes of Morris Plains was among the students from Golda Och Academy Upper School who recently marketed the 16th Yitzhak Rabin Memorial Day, Kristallnacht, and Veterans Day with a special ceremony at the school's Beit Knesset (Jewish place of worship) on Wednesday, Nov. 9.

The school is in West Orange.

Rabbi Michael Monson, a teacher at the school, along with several students gave speeches, said a prayer, and sang the Israel and United States national anthems. Lower School students also commemorated the events with age-appropriate discussions at a morning assembly and in classrooms.

Israeli Prime Minister Rabin, the 1994 Nobel Peace Prize winner, was assassinated in 1995. Kristallnacht, also referred to as the Night of Broken Glass, was a series of attacks against Jews throughout Nazi Germany and parts of Austria on Nov. 9 and 10, 1938. Many historians view Kristallnacht as the beginning of the Holocaust.