Retired Prof. Leo Gruenfeld, industrial and labor relations and a Holocaust survivor, was 11 years old and living in Berlin on Nov. 9, 1938 when Kristallnacht, known as the Night of Broken Glass, began. During this Nazi pogrom, an anti-semitic riot, Nazis deported approximately 30,000 Jews to concentration camps, burned down 7,500 Jewish businesses, destroyed 267 synagogues and killed at least 91 in Berlin and other German cities, according to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. Survivor: Prof. Leo Gruenfeld relates his experience of the Holocaust to listeners during a Hillel event last night.

This was not the first time that Gruenfeld, 83, has told his story. In commemoration of Kristallnacht, Cornell Hillel brought back Gruenfeld. Over 20 students and staff gathered in Robert Purcell Community Center last night as Gruenfeld related his childhood memories of the Nazi occupation of Germany.

“We were totally unprepared for the events that took place,” Gruenfeld told the audience. “I saw four or five synagogues in my neighborhood in flames. Torahs were laid out across the street. They just exploded everything.”

Gruenfeld talked very slowly and quietly about his experiences, pausing often, apparently deep in reflection as he spoke.

“Jews were tied up in groups of four or five, tied by their beards and made to dance while they were kicked, shuffled about, and as their hair [a sacred symbol of their orthodox religion] was cut off,” Gruenfeld said.

He detailed the massive plundering of Jewish stores- half-naked women trying on brand-new corsets, people of all ages snatching up loose jewelry lying on the streets.

Gruenfeld emphasized the consequences faced by those who attempted to stop the chaos. “It cannot be underestimated that if you raised your voice in offense to what was going on, you would be next,” Gruenfeld said.

Audience members could not help but gasp when Gruenfeld recounted his experience being crucified by several Nazis on a neighborhood fence. “I am too proud to tell you how badly they hurt me,” Gruenfeld said.

Sam Klein ’12 felt Gruenfeld’s account of Kristallnacht to be very compelling and relevant at a time when the numbers of Holocaust survivors are dwindling. “I think it’s good that people are telling their stories now because it is obviously important to remember for future lessons,” Klein said.

Amy Burkhoff ’11, the Hillel executive board's chair of finance, was also very thankful to have Gruenfeld speak to students last night. “It’s very imperative for our generation to listen and record the stories as much as we can so we can then pass it down to future generations who won’t be able to listen to stories first hand,” Burkhoff said.

Two weeks after Kristallnacht, Gruenfeld and his family fled to Shanghai and were put into a ghetto comprised of 18,000 Jews. There, he witnessed countless people lying dead on the streets of hunger and disease. Years later, Gruenfeld also learned how close his entire ghetto was to being exterminated by the Chinese troops. “I guess that is why we’re called survivors,” he said.

Gruenfeld immigrated to the United States in 1948 where he served in the Korean War. Following his service, he began studying and eventually started teaching at Cornell in 1960. Even to this day, Gruenfeld constantly reflects on his childhood experiences during the Holocaust.

“It’s very difficult to understand for those who did not experience it” Gruenfeld said. “The sadism of the national socialists was incomprehensible, but it happened before, and has happened since in other places around the world.”

The Hillel Director of Operations and Program Associate Nomi Fridman reiterated the need and the urgency of learning the lessons of Holocaust survivors. “I think it is important to keep the information alive as long as we can.”

Gruenfeld also created a documentary of his experiences, which is available from Cornell Hillel. Gruenfeld ended by congratulating the audience on enduring his painful story. “The experiences described are very personal, involve life and death, and involve the end of the Jewish people in Europe as we knew.”