Below is a full translation of an op-ed written by WJC Executive Vice President Maram Stern in the German newspaper Die Presse.
International Holocaust Remembrance Day on January 27th was commemorated with many worthy events in countries around the world, albeit while observing COVID-19 social-distancing measures. But can people, who are justifiably worried about their futures because of the pandemic, honestly believe that because 76-years have passed since the liberation of Auschwitz, antisemitism is no longer a problem?
I do not think so. Right now, conspiracy myths that were believed to have been debunked long ago are reappearing. Victims of the Shoah are mocked without consequences; at demonstrations in Germany and Austria against social-distancing requirements, coronavirus deniers waved banners reading, "Vaccination makes you free," invoking the infamous German phrase cast in iron over the gates of Auschwitz, “Arbeit Macht Frei.” Some wore the yellow Star of David with the inscription of ‘Jude’ replaced with "Unvaccinated." Some protesters compared the effects of the coronavirus restrictions with the fate of Anne Frank and other victims of the Holocaust.
People from different backgrounds truly believe the lies circulating on social media: the claims that Jews intentionally spread the virus, just as Jews were accused of poisoning wells during the Bubonic Plague in the Middle Ages. The insidious American conspiracy group QAnon, which deals primarily in antisemitic clichés, is now also spreading throughout Europe.
The President of the German Bundestag, Wolfgang Schäuble, warned on International Holocaust Remembrance Day that antisemitism and xenophobia were manifesting themselves "again openly, unrestrained and ready for violence" in Germany. An attack on the synagogue in Halle failed only by chance, and it is "devastating" to have to admit that "our culture of remembrance does not protect against a brazen reinterpretation or even denial of history." In the United States alone, almost two-thirds of all religiously motivated hate crimes in 2020 were directed against Jews; World Jewish Congress President Ronald S. Lauder recently lamented this statistic. With more than 2,000 registered incidents in Germany in 2019, antisemitism has doubled in the past three years; one in four Germans harbors antisemitic thoughts.
Lauder therefore suggested an additional compulsory education program at schools and universities in European countries about the Holocaust, even if only online, because deniers of the Shoah are once again making an open and brazen appearance. Antisemitism is an indicator of the health of a democracy. In recent years, the hatred of Jews and new immigrants has yet again increased particularly among new Muslims immigrants.
Strategies against hatred
In Austria, the Integration Fund (ÖIF), together with the Federal Government and the Jewish Community of Vienna (IKG), presented a brochure and seminars to provide immigrants with targeted information combatting antisemitism. In addition, the federal government has presented its new strategy to combat antisemitism, providing security precautions for Jewish institutions, along with educational programs, as well as a new documentation center intended to facilitate the exchange of data throughout Europe. A terrorist attack by a young Islamist took place in downtown Vienna on November 4th, killing four people. Another incident took place in Upper Austria, a federal state known for having the most right-wing extremist crimes of all federal states in Austria. This antisemitic incident, orchestrated by right-wing extremist fraternities, was thwarted thanks to official support from the state budget.
