(IsraelNN.com) German police, breaking up a large ring of violent neo-Nazis early yesterday morning, thwarted a terrorist attack planned for next week. Over 300 police officers raided some 50 neo-Nazi targets, including private homes, finding weapons and making several arrests. The police said afterwards that they thwarted a plan to blow up a Jewish Center in Munich during a scheduled visit of the German President this coming November 9 - the 65th anniversary of Kristallnacht. The targeted group, named Combat 18, is an offshoot of one of the most active racist groups in Britain. The '18' in the group's name is based on Adolf Hitler's initials, the first and eighth letters in the alphabet.

Kristallnacht, or the Night of Broken Glass, occurred on Nov. 9, 1938, when organized gangs of Nazi youth roamed Jewish neighborhoods throughout Germany, Austria and the Sudetenland, attacking Jews, burning synagogues, looting, and breaking windows of Jewish businesses and homes. Close to 100 Jews were killed, almost 7,500 Jewish businesses were destroyed, between 26,000 and 30,000 Jews were arrested and sent to concentration camps, and well over 2,000 synagogues were burned.