Logan Square in Philadelphia in Philadelphia County, Pennsylvania — The American Northeast (Mid-Atlantic)
Religious Persecution
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Natural Rights
Photographed by Devry Becker Jones (CC0), February 25, 2022
1. Religious Persecution side of the marker
Religious Persecution
For three days, starting November 9, 1938, Nazi Party officials and others carried out orchestrated attacks against Jews throughout Germany. The perpetrators set fire to over 1,000 synagogues, destroying Torah scrolls, prayer books, and other sacred objects. They ransacked over 7,000 Jewish businesses and deported 30,000 Jewish men to concentration camps. Authorities ordered police not to interfere, instructing fire brigades to protect adjacent buildings but not synagogues. Many Germans joined in the attacks; many more stood idly by. These pogroms came to be known by the sanitized name Kristallnacht, the Night of the Broken Glass. From this moment on, Jewish life in Germany became impossible.
Kristallnacht was the beginning of the end.
Natural Rights
In 1790 George Washington voiced the essential American value that protected human freedom, religious and otherwise.
"It is now no more than toleration is spoken of as if it were the indulgence of one class of people that another enjoyed the exercise of their inherent natural rights, for, happily, the Government of the United States, which gives to bigotry no sanction, to persecution no assistance, requires only that they who live under its protection should demean themselves as good citizens in giving it on all occasions their effectual support."
GeorgeWashington, Letter of Newport Hebrew Congregation
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August 21, 1790
Erected 2018 by USC Shoah Foundation.
Topics and series. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: Civil Rights • Law Enforcement • Religion & Religious Structures • War, World II. In addition, it is included in the Former U.S. Presidents: #01 George Washington series list. A significant historical date for this entry is August 21, 1790.
Location. 39° 57.301′ N, 75° 10.038′ W. Marker is in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in Philadelphia County. It is in Logan Square. It is on Arch Street west of Benjamin Franklin Parkway, on the right when traveling west. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 1635 Arch St, Philadelphia PA 19103, United States of America. Touch for directions.
Regionally, this marker is in Southeast Pennsylvania. It is also in the American Northeast and in the Mid-Atlantic. Globally, it is in North America, the Western Hemisphere, the Western World, and the Anglosphere. Historically, it finds itself in what was once the Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) Confederacy, New Netherland, and one of the original Thirteen
Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within walking distance of this marker: Freedom of Religion / Nuremberg Laws (here, next to this marker); Death Camps / American Democracy (here, next to this marker); Protecting Life and Liberty / Totalitarianism (here, next to this marker); Liberation / The Master Race (here, next to this marker); Six Pillars (here, next to this marker); Bearing Witness / Human Equality (a few steps from this marker); Theresienstadt Tree (a few steps from this marker); Train Tracks from Treblinka (within shouting distance of this marker). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Philadelphia.
Photographed by Devry Becker Jones (CC0), February 25, 2022
3. Religious Persecution / Natural Rights Marker
Credits. This page was last revised on February 2, 2023. It was originally submitted on February 28, 2022, by Devry Becker Jones of Washington, District of Columbia. This page has been viewed 161 times since then and 20 times this year. Photos: 1, 2, 3. submitted on February 28, 2022, by Devry Becker Jones of Washington, District of Columbia.
