Light Up The Church

July 2025: Kristallnacht News Update

Thank you again for signing the Kristallnacht declaration. Every month we send a few stories about Kristallnacht and the Holocaust that made the news in the previous month. Towards November 2025 we will share information about Light Up The Church 2024.

Below is the update from the stories of July 2025.

  • A Holocaust survivor's unlikely friendship

    A 93-year-old Holocaust survivor and a man nearly 40 years younger became best friends.

  • Eight decades later, a Holocaust survivor reunites with his liberator

    Nearly 80 years after American soldier Jack Moran helped liberate Andrew Roth from Buchenwald concentration camp, the two men reunited in Los Angeles, sharing memories of survival, liberation, and an unbreakable bond forged during the Holocaust. Their emotional meeting, arranged by the USC Shoah Foundation, highlighted the urgent need to preserve firsthand accounts before they are lost to time.

  • Silver Spring Resident Prepares to Tell Her Family’s Holocaust Story

    After completing the Maggid program, which trains second-generation Holocaust survivors to share their parents’ stories, Ellen Kandell traveled to Germany to honor her great-aunt murdered in the Holocaust and to reconnect with family through the return of a Nazi-looted silver cup. Inspired by the experience, Kandell now speaks to students and communities, committed to keeping her family's history — and Holocaust memory — alive for future generations.

  • Holocaust AI Fakes Spark Alarm

    AI-generated fake Holocaust victim images are spreading on Facebook, often created for profit by content farms in developing countries, leading to widespread misinformation and emotional exploitation. Experts and institutions like the Auschwitz Museum warn that this trend distorts history and disrespects real victims, while platforms like Meta have so far failed to take sufficient action.

  • 80 years later, a Holocaust survivor meets an American soldier who helped free him

    Nearly 80 years after American soldier Jack Moran helped liberate Buchenwald, he reunited in Los Angeles with Andrew Roth — a survivor of that very camp — to share their stories with the USC Shoah Foundation. Their emotional meeting underscores the urgency of preserving Holocaust testimony, as the world risks forgetting the horrors both men endured as teenagers during one of history’s darkest chapters.