83 years after Kristallnacht, antisemitism is again rising - opinion

• Published date: 06 November 2021

Members of Antifa, the supposedly anti-fascist organization, have been known to support the anti-Israel BDS (Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions) movement. And in Germany, where antisemitism was suppressed after the defeat of the Nazi regime, it is again unashamedly raising its ugly head.

In their recent government election, the AfD (Alternative for Germany) Party won 10.3% of the votes. It is a nationalist and right-wing populist political party that stands for opposition to the European Union and immigration. It is on the furthest right political spectrum. At a recent party congress of the AfD, there was consensus of their dislike of Islam. They agreed to include the sentence "Islam does not belong to Germany" in their manifesto. Those sentiments can easily extend to antisemitism.

cnxps.cmd.push(function () { cnxps({ playerId: '36af7c51-0caf-4741-9824-2c941fc6c17b' }).render('4c4d856e0e6f4e3d808bbc1715e132f6'); });

>

Quoting from an article in The Atlantic:

"By claiming a share, however small, of Germany's political real estate, the AfD has forced the country's mainstream parties to broaden their tents, and in some cases, even normalize far-right positions.

"It has also forced them to consider more cumbersome coalitions that not long ago might have been unthinkable, complicating the math of forming a government in a country where a single party rarely wins an overall majority."

Only time will tell in which direction a new Social Democrat chancellor of Germany, Olaf Scholz, will lead his country.

This week, Jews all over the world commemorate the 83rd anniversary of Kristallnacht, "The Night of Broken Glass," named after the windows of Jewish businesses and homes that were shattered during the overnight of November 9 to 10, 1938. Most synagogues throughout Germany, Austria and the annexed Czechoslovakian Sudetenland were plundered and set alight that night. Thousands of Jewish businesses were damaged, and 30,000 Jewish men were sent to concentration camps.

The trigger for Kristallnacht can be found in March 1938, following the annexation of Austria into the German Reich.

The Polish authorities were concerned about the increased persecution of Jews in those countries. But it was not their welfare in which they were interested, but rather their fear that the many Polish nationals among the Jews would either want to return to Poland or be forced to do so. So in October of that year, the Polish government legislated a de-nationalization law that annulled the...