(Jewish Group) Germany must confront its new wave of anti-Semitism -- even if those behind it aren't

[Behind the Aegis]

(THIS IS THE JEWISH GROUP! RESPECT!!)

Germany must confront its new wave of anti-Semitism — even if those behind it aren’t German

Anti-Semitic violence is on the rise in Germany.

Last month, an Israeli man wearing a kippah, or skullcap, an obvious sign of Jewish faith and identity, was attacked on the streets of Berlin. But the assailant was not a German. He was a 19-year-old refugee from Syria, a country that has made anti-Semitism an integral part of its ruling ideology.

The Research and Information Office on Anti-Semitism in Berlin published a survey documenting 947 incidents of anti-Semitic attacks, threats and vandalism in the city in 2017 — almost double the number from the previous year. Synagogues and other Jewish community facilities are under police protection. This is 2018, not 1933.

I have a personal stake in this issue. My paternal grandparents were murdered in Auschwitz on May 26, 1944. My mother spent months hiding in a Budapest attic, and was twice taken out to be shot by Hungarians collaborating with the Nazi occupiers. She survived both times. My late father survived two death marches.


Germany, to its credit, has made deliberate and determined efforts to confront its dark history. In many ways, it is a model for how countries can confront a past of hatred and atrocities. After the attack on the Israeli man last month, many Germans took to the streets to protest the violence, some wearing kippahs in solidarity with the victim. Though this was a moving expression of public sympathy, anti-Semitic violence continues.

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