On Nov. 9-10, 1938, the Nazis unleashed a series of violent pogroms – state-sanctioned anti-Jewish riots – against the Jews in Germany, Austria, and the Sudetenland. In the space of a few hours, rioters burned or destroyed 267 synagogues, vandalized or looted 7,500 Jewish businesses, and killed at least 91 Jews. They also damaged many Jewish cemeteries, hospitals, schools, and homes, as police and fire brigades stood aside. For the first time, tens of thousands of Jews were sent to concentration camps simply because they were Jewish. Known as “Kristallnacht” – “The Night of Broken Glass”  – for the shattered windowpanes that carpeted the streets in the aftermath of the pogroms, the event marked a turning point in Nazi Germany’s persecution of Jews; a significant event that would culminate in the Holocaust – the systematic, state-sponsored mass murder of European Jewry.

Several Connecticut Jewish communities have planned commemorations on Sunday, Nov. 9 to mark the 76th anniversary of Kristallnacht.

SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 9

Hartford – Kristallnacht Commemoration, 5:30 p.m., Charter Oak Cultural Center, 
21 Charter Oak Ave. (860) 310-2580.

Stamford – “Commemorating Kristallnacht: The Lady in Number 6,” post festival encore of the Stamford JCC’s Jewish Arts & Film Festival of Fairfield County; 1 p.m.; Stamford JCC, 1035 Newfield Ave., (203) 322-7900, stamfordjcc.org.

West Hartford – Kristallnacht Commemoration; a program of music and narration inspired by “Lost in the Stars” by Kurt Weill and Maxwell Anderson, featuring feature music from that musical as well as “The Threepenny Opera,” “The Eternal Road,” “Knickerbocker Holiday” and “Das Berliner Requiem”; 4 p.m.; Congregation Beth Israel, 701 Farmington Ave., (860) 233-8215. FREE

Westport – Greater Westport-Norwalk and Eastern Fairfield County Community-wide Kristallnacht Observance featuring Rebbetzin Esther Jungreis; 4 p.m.; at The Conservative Synagogue, 30 Hillspoint Rd., (203) 454-4673.