Kristallnacht, the Night of Broken Glass

A Reading, ADDRESS UNKNOWN

Great stories change lives, bringing real events into focus. Great stories remain in our heads for days, weeks or even years. Great, memorable fiction is often more evocative than the actual event it describes, motivating its reader to investigate the real story behind the novel.

The Council for Holocaust Education will present a reading of Address Unknown during a commemoration of Kristallnacht, the Night of Broken Glass. The timeline begins November 9-10, 1938, Germany essentially declared war against German and Austrian Jews. Riots ensued, destroying synagogues, Jewish businesses, terrorizing Jewish families and even sending men to concentration camps.

The Kristallnacht commemoration takes place on Sunday, November 8, 2026, at 2:00 p.m. at Congregation B’nai Emunah, 17th and Peoria in Tulsa.

The commemoration is open to the public, without charge. The Council asks those who are attending to register at www.tulsagogue.com/Kristallnacht. Doors will open at 1:30 p.m.

Address Unknown

Address Unknown, a novel of pen pals writing to each other as world events are beginning to change, challenges what we and the two pen pals believe to be true or not true.

Published in 1938 by Kathrine Kressman Taylor, “Address Unknown” disturbed American readers to such an extent that the first printing of the book sold out. Even Readers Digest’s reprinting of her novel sold over 3 million copies.

Address Unknown begins in November 1932 with a letter from Max living in San Francisco to his friend and business partner Martin living in Munich, Germany. Max’s first correspondence is a chatty letter about what is going on with him, congratulating Martin on his new home, providing information about their art gallery business in America, and ending with the sentence, “Fourteen years since the end of the war!”

“What war?” the reader asks. World War I, a war that Germany lost and from that loss Germany never recovered.

The two men share letters for nearly 2 years. Their correspondence becomes increasingly dark and unfriendly. Max warns Martin about the new German leader Adolf Hitler and what Max hears is happening in Germany.

Martin rejects Max’s warning, choosing instead to fully embrace the new Nazi regime. He dismisses Max’s fears, choosing his own social status and personal safety over their friendship and basic human decency. In rejecting Max’s warning, Martin triggers a terrifying sequence of letters, ending with a demand for Max never to write again.

Betrayal on the part of both Max and Martin builds toward a lethal and haunting ending.

Tulsa well-known actors, Tom Berenson and Kurt Harris will play Max and Martin, as the characters correspond during 1932-1934. The actors will present a staged reading of the book.

The Council for Holocaust Education

The Council for Holocaust Education has provided Holocaust programming and education to teachers and students in middle and high school for over 30 years. The Council encourages a society that embraces the study of the lessons learned from the Holocaust to cultivate critical thinking, confront prejudice and inspire a shared commitment to human rights.

Address Unknown EVENT DETAILS

• Sunday, November 8, 2026, 2PM
• The Council for Holocaust Education
• Congregation B’nai Emunah,
• 1719 S Owasso Ave, Tulsa, OK 74120 (17th & Peoria)
• Free Admission
• Register to Attend: tulsagogue.com/Kristallnacht