November Pogroms: Remembering has to mean action

81 years ago my grandmother, Susi Guttmann, was eight. She lived in Vienna’s Tempelgasse, right next to the Grand Synagogue. But on November 9 everything changed. On this cold Thursday, almost every Jewish institution across the “German Reich” was destroyed, burnt down and desecrated. On this day, her father was deported to Dachau. On this day, her apartment was Aryanized by her Nanny – all of a sudden, they were homeless. And until today, my grandmother says she can’t forget the smell of Vienna’s grand Synagogue burning down.
My Grandmother survived by fleeing to Shanghai, where she lived in the local Ghetto for the next 10 years. Many others didn’t get to escape.

November 9, 1938, was one of the starting points of the most horrific crimes in human history. Although planned in the highest ranks of the Nazi regime, it was carried out by an angry mob in the streets – consisting not of nameless faces but rather the “dear” neighbors and acquaintances.

In the last 81 years, a lot has changed for the better, but antisemitism and racism still exist and pose a serious threat. Exactly in this context, it makes me unbelievably happy to spend Shabbat with 250 Jews from 22 countries proudly celebrating their identities. We prevailed – and we will prevail.

Returning to my Grandmother – when three years ago, a far-right candidate won the first round of Austria’s presidential elections she said: “Now they are back.” That candidate lost in the end, but all over Europe, the situation looks dire.
Every year, we say “Never Again”, but to simply say the phrase is not enough. Rather than shielding ourselves with passive ‘thoughts and prayers’, we must confront the dangers we face with determined action. So when we say “never again”, we must mean it – by standing united in the face of a growing threat of resurgent antisemitism.

Across the world, forces of antisemitism, racism, and hate are on the rise. More and more countries have ascendant far-right forces or even far-right governments. The West collectively forgot that Nazis still threaten the lives and the security of Jews. Pittsburgh, Poway and recently Halle served as sobering reminders. Far-right ideology will always remain a mortal danger to the Jewish People. Its logical conclusion is antisemitism, is to kill Jews. We can never work with them, co-opt them and cooperate with them. They can never be our ally and we have a duty to oppose them in all their forms.

Even though its currently not always us who are their first target, we must lead in standing up to the forces of hate and defeat them with the forces of unity. As young Jews, we can’t simply stand by and look on as the forces of the far-right get normalized and accepted into the mainstream.
When we say “never again”, that also means we have to go out onto the streets! When we say “never forget” we have to warn the loudest when there are radical developments.

Never again – no pasaran!

Protest against the FPÖ’s misuse of remembrance