DC kosher restaurant vandalized on anniversary of Kristallnacht

Char Bar, a kosher restaurant in D.C., was vandalized by having two of its windows smashed on Saturday, police say.

On the morning of Nov. 9, officers were called to the 2100 block of L Street in Northwest D.C. by a concerned citizen about broken windows. Officers saw two smashed windows and rocks on the sidewalk.

No one broke into the establishment. Since the incident, the restaurant’s windows have been boarded up.

“Just the idiocy of people — that was my first reaction,” said Michael Chelst, the owner of Char Bar. “Like, really? You don’t have anything better to do with your lives than to waste energy and time and people’s money to do what? We’re just a restaurant here.”

Chelst said what was most concerning to him was when the crime happened.

The vandalism comes on the 86th anniversary of Kristallnacht.

Kristallnacht, which took place in November of 1938 before the Holocaust happened, is called the “night of broken glass” because thousands of Jewish homes, businesses and places of worship were destroyed by German Nazis. Around 90 Jewish people were killed and around 30,000 Jewish men were arrested and sent to concentration camps, according to NBC News.

News4 reached out to D.C. police to see if this is being investigated as a possible hate crime. So far in the investigation, there is no information or evidence that the vandalism was motivated by hate or bias, but that’s something that could potentially change as more information comes to light.

“That’s a disappointing thing to hear because it’s pretty clear that it’s a hate crime,” Chelst said. “There’s seven other places with glass on this street and they didn’t hit any of those.”

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