Antisemitism: Parallels Between Then And Now
It all sounds so familiar. It seems like déjà vu but it’s real. And it is so scary. It feels like we have been in this situation before –- and we have.
I am referring to the parallels between the rise of today’s antisemitism and the Nazi years in Germany.
We hear the same denials; the excuses; the accusations of exaggeration; the charges that those expressing fears are not seeing the “big picture” and so on.
I have touched on this issue before in my columns but I only discussed it superficially. I did not want to be an alarmist. I was hesitant, careful not to overstate the case, even though I believed comparisons were justified.
But now comes Sir Simon Schama, author of 20 books, a renowned historian and professor of art history and history at Columbia University who was awarded knighthood in 2019 for this “service to history.”
Writing in an essay/book, Jew-hatred: The Latest Edition, published in October Schama observes:
“Some of the [present] abuse has a distinctly antique ring, fished nostalgically from the poisoned pond of yore.”
He doesn’t just mean Nazism but antisemitism all the back to 700 BCE (Before Common Era). Jews have suffered discrimination, expulsion, and pogroms for centuries.
But, in my view, there is a big difference between the suffering of Jews in the “pond of yore” and the present. Throughout the years, Jews had opportunities to escape their environment and move to other countries.
After the defeat of Hitler, Jews left the bloodstained soil of Germany and found safe havens in many countries. That opportunity does not exist anymore. Antisemitism has permeated every corner of the planet. Jew-hate is universal.
Says Schama: “Antisemitism if now the fastest metastasizing race hatred in the Western World.”
Jewish athletes, scholars, artists, musicians are banned around the world for participating in events in their respective fields. Children are afraid to be identified as being Jewish at their schools. Synagogues have built protective concrete barriers and now resemble fortresses not houses of worship. Cemeteries are being desecrated.
Meanwhile, representatives from such “freedom-loving democracies” –- Russia, Iran, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Syria, North Korea, China –- are welcomed and celebrated. (World Population Review lists 51 autocratic countries).
Incidentally, let’s put aside the answer to the question whether Israel has a right to exist. The question itself is offensive and antisemitic. It is never posed for any of the autocracies, just for the only democracy in the Middle East.
All too familiar.
Recognizing the universality of Jew-hatred and the importance of Israel for Jews, Schama says:
“History has conclusively demonstrated that Jews need somewhere where they can protect themselves.”
He adds: “Apparently, at a moment when Jewish-hatred has gone globally epidemic, the international community owes itself the job of wiping out the only place on Earth where Jews can reliably defend themselves.”
And the U.S. is part of the “Western world” in which antisemitism is flourishing. True, antisemitism has always lurked beneath the surface but it was relegated to the far-left and far-right. Now it has permeated into the mainstream. An example: In Michigan, the Democratic Attorney General Dana Nessel would not attend her own party’s convention because, she said, as a Jew, she did not feel safe doing so.
Schama cites a poll by the Manhattan Institute which found that 54 percent of American men between the ages of 18 and 50 believe either the Holocaust never happened or it has been much exaggerated.
And to those anti-Israel critics who defend themselves by alleging they are not anti-Jews but anti-Zionist, Schama quotes from the philosopher Hans Mayer’s book, Outsiders: “Whoever attacks Zionism but by no means wishes to say anything against Jews is fooling themselves or others.” Of course, “Kill the Jews,” “Hitler was right,” “Dirty Jew,” all sound pretty much anti-Zionist.
Back to the parallel and there are parallels within the overall parallel.
First, Jews who support politicians that refuse to recognize Israel’s right to exist and accuse the Jewish state of genocide, are reminiscent of Jews who pledged allegiance to Hitler. Indeed, they are complicit with and given comfort to the “genocide accusers.”
And, worse, they have given cover to the antisemites who can protest: “Hey, even Jews believe Israel has committed genocide and should not exist. So why are you angry at us?”
In the late 1920s and early 30s, there were small Jewish political parties, admittedly few, aligned with Hitler. And guess what happened to them after Hitler won? Exactly. It did not matter that they were supporters. They were Jewish.
This issue was covered in an Atlantic Magazine August article, “The Jews Who Voted for Hitler” and Moment Magazine published a similar piece, “Hitler’s Enablers Included Conservative German Jews” in the spring 2025 issue. And these are left-of-center magazines. Also, the famous writer and intellectual, Hannah Arendt covers this subject in depth in her classic, Eichmann in Jerusalem: The Banality of Evil.
Just as Trumpites, with their support of the president, gave credence to his lies, corruption, sexual perversion, etc., those backing anti-Israel, anti-Jewish politicians are embracing the inherent antisemitism. The latter cannot deny that. They cannot have it both ways –- condemning Trumpites for their comprises in morality and decency and then try to defend their embrace of Jewish haters.
In championing anti-Jewish, anti-Israel officeholders and candidates, the Jews turned a blind eye to the dangers faced by Jews. Jews are apparently expendable in exchange of more preferred public policies.
Another parallel:
As Hitler “butchered” his way through the ranks, some of the most prominent American journalists, including Pulitzer-prize winners, praised him as a savior for Europe. The stories were published in major U.S. newspapers.
Similarly, in the coverage of the Gaza war, Hamas is barely mentioned as a participant in the war. Israel is the culprit, the only culprit.
The two most unconscionable and indefensible charges are that Jews have committed genocide, a blood libel, in Gaza and is guilty of practicing apartheid. These charges have fanned the flames of antisemitism throughout the world.
“Lies are the nourishment of Jew-hatred and have been for millennia,” reports Schama.
Genocide? Israel is the only country in the history of warfare which has warned civilians of upcoming attacks and thereby alerted its enemy –- in this case, Hamas in Gaza.
Meanwhile, hundreds of thousands of civilians are being slaughtered in other wars which are utterly ignored: Sudan (60,000 killed in a few days), Ukraine (where Russia has kidnapped some 35,000 children) China, (which is exterminating the Uyghurs) and atrocities in several other countries.
There is no condemnation or calls for the annihilation of any other race, nationality, religion, gays, or other minorities. If they were threatened, there would be universal outrage –- and rightly so.
Apartheid? In the recent election, 19 Arabs were elected to the Knesset (Parliament). They have had representation from the first day Israel was founded on May 14, 1948 and a Muslim seats on the Supreme Court. Moreover, the Arab population has grown from about 150,000 in 1948, to approximately two million, 21 percent of Israel’s population.
During the same period, while there were one million Jews in Arab countries in1948, only about 10,000 remain because of discrimination and expulsion. Just as the Nazi’s plans for a “Final Solution” was ignored, the world has closed its eyes to the plight of Jews in the Arab world.
(None of this suggests that discrimination against Arabs in Israel and attacks by settlers on Palestinians must not be halted).
Most important, we need to remember that political movements are evolutionary. Hitler did not come to power overnight. Some of today’s anti-Jewish, anti-Israel voices would not have had an audience only a few years ago. Now they are applauded.
I’ll conclude with the famous quote –- which has been cited so often it has become a cliché –- from the Spanish-American philosopher, George Santayana:
“Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat It.”
Schama echoes Santayana with the following: “Along with the revocation of Jewish mourning comes the demotion of memory.”
This is arguable –- I will delete arguably –- the saddest column I have written in decades at the typewriter/keyboard.
Never in my life have I wished more than I am wrong, if for no other reason than the sake of my children and grandchildren and for the sake of Jewish children and grandchildren throughout the world.
