Take it from a Holocaust survivor: We need Non-Jews to stand up against anti-Semitism

[Behind the Aegis]

As a Holocaust survivor, I know how hatred spreads until it is inescapable. When I was a child, the crimes committed against Jews and others who were persecuted in the Holocaust were part of my daily life.

I grew up in Compiègne, France in the 1940s. Anti-Semitism came to my city and overwhelmed the streets. It infiltrated my school. I was called a “dirty Jew” by all but one of my classmates; the one who was an ally has remained a friend to this day. But she was the exception. By almost everyone else, I was made to feel like a piece of dirt.

Anti-Semitism spread across Compiègne until it occupied the city completely. What started as hate crimes that were disregarded grew to be the active policing of the Jewish people.

The responsibility is on each of us, Jews and non-Jews alike, to find ways to stamp out hatred, change course and bridge what divides our nation. by the Forward

I remember when Jews had to start wearing the yellow star, and when we had to sit in the back of the movie theaters, until we couldn’t go to the movies at all. I remember going to my favorite park, but only being able to use one part of it, and sit on particular benches. I hope we never get to that point again, but that all started with anti-Semitic attacks that grew more frequent throughout my childhood.

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