Washington, Nov. 7: Imagine not inheriting a permanent bureaucracy. Freedom to bring in your own babus. It is every Indian politician's dream. Here in 'the land of the free', it is a privilege that the President enjoys. He is not encumbered with a permanent bureaucracy. So on January 20th, when President elect Barack Obama becomes President Obama, he will bring with him a whole new team.

He will not have to inherit a bunch of babus looking down their noses at the inexperienced head of government, something that happens in India every five years!

Berlin  - Flames leaped into the sky across Germany when the Nazis gave a foretaste of the Holocaust in a vicious pogrom against the Jewish community on the night of November 9, 1938.

By the time the rampage had ended, thousands of Jewish homes, businesses and synagogues had been burned down or looted by thugs as police and fire brigades looked on.

The event came to be known as Kristallnacht, or Night of Broken Glass, a reference to the shattered windows of storefronts that carpeted German streets.

Berlin  - It was one of the biggest thefts in history - the forced transfer of Jewish-owned businesses, homes and art collections to German "Aryan" ownership.

Long before the Kristallnacht pogrom of November 9, 1938, the Nazis systemically began seizing possessions of Jews living in Germany, under an official policy known as Aryanization.

After the start of World War II in September 1939, the Germans continued the looting in Eastern Europe, helped by a huge apparatus which administered the stolen items.

The main beneficiaries were the Nazis themselves, their supporters, art dealers and museums.

November 9 marks the 70th anniversary of the Nazi atrocities known as Kristallnacht when thousands of Jewish businesses and synagogues were destroyed or damaged across Germany.

Around 400 people died in the violence, which marked a turning point in Hitler's anti-Semitic policies and gave a foretaste of the systematic mass extermination of Jews.

Berlin  - The systematic persecution of Jews in Germany began soon after Hitler came to power in January 1933 and led to the state- orchestrated mass slaughter of the Holocaust. Following is a brief chronology of the events:

1933 - Boycott of Jewish businesses, attorneys, and physicians. Law for the Reestablishment of the Civil Service results in the firing of Jewish professors from universities.

1934-35 - "No Jews" signs placed with increasing frequency outside shops, restaurants and public recreation facilities. Employment ban on Jewish actors and authors. Medical and law students barred from sitting exams. Nuremberg racial laws outlaw marriage and out-of- wedlock relationships between Jews and "Aryans."