בס”ד
Following the murder of 1500 mostly Jewish men, women and children on 7 Octoer by Hamas-Terrorists, a wave of antisemitism is travelling through Europe. This wave had already started before the beginning of Israel’s military response to bring back secuirty and defence to the country, and it is getting bigger.
Antisemitic words and antisemitic attacks have consequences. Many of our felllow Polish Jewish citizens are afraid of leaving their homes, of wearing a kippa oder a pendant with the star of David. Jews are insulted and spat on. Jewish homes have been sprayed. What is done to our Jewish citizens and what they have had to endure is intolerable.
This Thursday marks the 85th anniversary of the German Pogrom Night. In the night from 9 to 10 November 1938 the Nazi regime organised a German-wide Pogrom in which hundreds of Jews were murdered. An organised mob destroyed Synagogues, Jewish businesses, homes and cemeteries. The Pogrom Night was a sad milestone in the redicalisation of antisemiitism, which ended up in the Shoah.
National Socialism and Hitler did not invent antisemitism, they just brought it to its highest point. Antisemitism is an endemic disease that can at any time become epidemic. It must be dealt with early and with severity to avoid its further development.
Our strength today is that we can notice it and defend ourselves from it. This is why these actions must entail clear consequences. We have to support the dignity of our country and of our Jewish citizens. There is no place for antisemitism in Poland.
The words “never again” sound hollow, when facts do not follow them. There is a lot more to do and we have to be watch. Everyome who attacks a Jew in word or deed should face the consequences.
We should be on the side of humanity, Tolerance, religious peace and in support of the weak.
Today we remember the Pogrom Night, but just remembering is not enough. It should be just the basis of active action against today’s antisemitism and its future forms.
For the terrorist attack on 7 October there can be no excuse of relativisation. The suffering of the Palestinians is not an excuse. Israeli hostages should be released immediately.
The Pogrom Night, the Shoah and the massactes of 7 October destroyed dreams and hopes in the name of an ideology that despises men and does not tolerate any diversity. Diversity in our country should be respected and defended.
We are all individually responsible for standing against antisemitism, racism and violence, today more than ever.
D. Cohen