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An Ingrained Historic Hatred

Every day, I wake up in the morning, I say the Shema prayer, and I decide to live

unapologetically Jewish. I am a Jew. I am a recently observant Ashkenazi Jewish daughter of

Soviet immigrant parents, and I have discovered a new passion for my Jewish identity. Why am I

so passionate about being Jewish? Well, it’s not because I love latkes, or dancing at bar

mitzvahs, but rather because being Jewish is what has shaped my character, and shown me the

immense power of embracing one’s identity in the face of adversity.

I remember watching ​Schindler’s List​ for the first time when I was thirteen with my

synagogue youth group. I remember three years later, giving a speech in a synagogue surrounded

by police officers, with the same youth group in attendance, at a memorial service for the

Pittsburg Tree of Life Synagogue shooting victims. Standing at a podium, mourning the death of

eleven individuals who were killed for going to synagogue on a Shabbat morning, I was

reminded of this film about the mass murder of six million innocent Jewish people that occurred

almost a century ago.

Over the first six nights of Hanukkah in 2019, there were seven recorded anti-semitic

attacks in New York City alone. Every night of Hanukkah I would light the candles on my

menorah, say a blessing, and grieve over that day’s anti-semitic event. Hanukkah is about finding

light in the darkness, and I felt a sense of empowerment from the pride I take in my Jewish

identity. Being Jewish means I experience the tension between this pride and the difficulty of

expressing my identity when I see the multitude of recent anti-semitic events. When I study

events in history in which Jewish people had to endure hatred from others, I feel a sense of

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responsibility to live an exemplary life in which I am creating a positive voice for the Jewish

people.

For the entire month of July 2019, I lived in Israel with a group of forty other Jewish

teens and staff. I explored the country and grew immensely in a Jewish context. By learning

about Judaism, Jewish history, and Israel, my connection to my Jewish identity was

strengthened. I returned with a determination to help other individuals who want to learn about

their Jewish identity. Upon coming home, I started the first Jewish Student Union Club in the

history of Northgate High School. It was one of the most frightening steps of my Jewish journey.

Our first meeting had fifteen teens, and our most recent meeting had close to thirty.

Anti-semitism has changed over the past century, but only in the way it outwardly

presents itself. The historic hatred remains the same, but it is concealed in the quick apologies

murmured in my direction when a student says an anti-semitic slur without realizing my

presence. Anti-semitism is often masked by humor. Even the Holocaust, the genocide of

millions, works its way into the mouths of many of my classmates in the form of various

one-liners.

Experiencing anti-semitism, both directly, indirectly, through the media, or through my

fellow community members, has driven me to question its overall effect on the Jewish

community. The anti-semitism that was prevalent during the Holocaust is terrifyingly present in

today’s society, and this leads me to ask the question: ​How has anti-semitism affected the Jewish

community over the past century, from the 1920s to today, and how is the current rise in

anti-semitic attacks affecting the American Jewry United States?

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Anti-Semitism by definition is the “prejudice toward or hatred of

Jews”(“Anti-Semitism”). It has been in existence as early as the Roman Empire when a rise in

Christianity led to increased anti-Semitism as Christians accused Jews of killing Jesus Christ.

This hatred of the Jewish people expanded over the next few centuries and dispersed across the

world in varied forms. For example, during the rise of Christianity, all religious Jewish people

were associated with the devil or given the blame for the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. On the

contrary, during the Holocaust or the 1800s and 1900s with the rise of various political parties,

anti-Semitism was focused rather on the ethnic cleansing of the Jewish people. Today,

anti-Semitism can be indirect, in forms of rhetoric such as Holocaust denial and hatred of Israel,

or direct, in forms of violence as seen in the recent stabbings and synagogue shootings. When

focusing on this past century, the manifestation of anti-Semitism is biological and genocidal. It is

through “thousands of years [of] stereotypes, discrimination, conspiracy theories, and

scapegoating”(“Anti-Semitism Still Poisons Society​”)​ that anti-Semitism has embedded its roots

and spread worldwide. The spectrum of anti-Semitism is also considered in the ways that

different populations of Jews are targeted. An Orthodox Jew with a greater external Jewish

appearance will be targeted differently than an elderly Holocaust survivor who is told to go back

to Nazi Germany to get finished off. This growth of anti-Jewish bigotry and the ways that it

presents itself in society demonstrates that anti-Semitism is not merely as simple as its definition

and it affects different kinds of Jewish people in a multitude of ways. Although anti-Semitism

has been historically in existence for thousands of years, its presence is widely recalled during

one of the most horrific genocides in history - the Holocaust.

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According to Daniel Geller, a graduate of Yeshiva University in New York and an Israel

Advocacy and Anti-Semitism Educator, anti-Semitism is “the longest and most illogical form of

hatred that has gradually morphed throughout history.” The Holocaust, in which six million

Jewish people and millions of other civilians perished in the hands of the Nazi regime led by

Adolf Hitler, is both an example of anti-Semitism persisting through thousands of years and the

absolute illogical hatred of a people. Lasting from 1933 to 1945, the Holocaust slowly

demolished European Jewry until the liberation of concentration camps by the Allies in the

spring of 1945. However, “the Holocaust did not begin as a genocide program. For most of the

1930s, the Nazis persecuted Jews by forcing them into ghetto villages, terrorizing them, and

stripping them of their legal rights. The killing phase of the Holocaust lasted primarily from 1941

to 1945”(“Holocaust”). Through the stories of survivors, like Polish Jewish survivor Marian

Turski, people are reminded of the atrocities of the Holocaust to never allow history to repeat

itself. As mentioned earlier, a recent form of anti-Semitism is denying the Holocaust. On the

seventy-fifth anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz, Turski stated, “Don't be indifferent

when you witness historical lies. Don't be indifferent when the past is manipulated for the sake of

current political interests. Don't be indifferent when any minority is discriminated

against”(​"Remembering Auschwitz: 75 Years Later”).​ This Holocaust survivor’s words of

wisdom are the key to halting the spread of anti-Semitism - it is no longer a time to be apathetic

and sit on the sidelines, but rather a time to recognize, understand, and advocate.

Marian Turski’s statement comes seventy-five years after the Holocaust, but even

immediately following the liberation of concentration camps across Europe, anti-Semitism was

far from over. After World War II, hatred of Jews in the United States was visible in schools and

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places of employment, including anti-Jewish prejudice on college campuses in the forms of

enrollment restrictions. In the United States, the so-called ‘Jewish problem’ was being fueled by

“vast outpourings of propaganda, pamphlet material, books, newspaper stories and

advertisements which suggest restrictions, magazine articles and radio utterances which consider

Jewish matters”(Meenes). These various forms of media created a negative perception of the

Jewish people through the eyes of the American public and created a dark cloud that settled over

the Jewish community as discrimination kept flooding in.

Since World War II, anti-Semitism has grown immensely and has specifically affected

Jewish students across American college campuses. In 1992, there were 114 reported

anti-Semitic incidents across college campuses in the United States. “According to a survey [in

2018] by the Anti-Defamation League, anti-Semitic incidents on college campuses rose to 204 in

2017 from 108 the prior year, an 89 percent increase”(Levin and Ward). In response to this rise

in recorded anti-Semitic incidents on American college campuses, the percentage of Jewish

students at universities such as UC Berkeley has declined significantly. Robyn Alana Engel

states that anti-Semitism is not only wide-spread, but it is perceived by students based on factors

such as Jewish identity, religion, and “manifestation [of] stereotypes”(Engel). However, on a

positive note, there has been a visible increase in pro-Jewish and pro-Israel organizations with

the spread of Hillel and Chabad establishments on college campuses across the United States.

Anti-Semitism has come to a head in recent years, and it has created a dark cloud of fear

and sadness that has settled on the Jewish American population. Jewish people have always been

productive members of society, for example, by joining the army and contributing to the cultural

arts. However, no matter how unreasonable anti-Semitism is, its historic presence surpasses the

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benefits Jewish people have brought to society. Recently, the anxiety in Jewish communities has

spiked beyond previous years due to “deadly attacks on synagogues in Poway, California, last

April and in Pittsburgh in 2018”(Stack). Anti-Semitic violence in New York, which is home to

the largest population of American Jewry in the United States, has been more frequent lately than

at any time in recent memory, “with three people killed in a shooting at a kosher supermarket in

Jersey City, N.J., and five injured in a knife attack at a rabbi’s home in Monsey, N.Y.”(Stack).

This sequence of anti-Semitic events is leaving citizens questioning why this rise is occurring.

Professor Debora Lipstadt, Professor of Jewish and Holocaust History at Emory University,

believes that this rise is due to white nationalism, and although she states President Trump is not

the direct cause, she believes his administration “lit a fire under it”(“Anti-Semitic Incidents In

The U.S. Appear To Be On The Rise”).

Anti-Semitism is prominent to a point of exiting the realm of being indirect, so much so

that Holocaust survivors are taking notice. Many Holocaust survivors came to America in search

of acceptance, and their hopes are falling with the daily news of anti-Semitic attacks. Although

anti-Semitism has been in existence for centuries, its newly acquired cadence is enough to have

Holocaust survivors speak out about the dangers that Jewish people in the United States are

facing in the midst of such hatred. January 27th, 2020 marked the 75th anniversary of the

liberation of Auschwitz. Survivors gathered in Poland at the Auschwitz-Birkenau death camp,

weeping and remembering the loss of their families and the unimaginable time they spent there.

At the gathering, Rabbi Arthur Schneier declared, “‘May we make a pledge: We stand united

against hate. We stand united against anti-Semitism. We stand united against xenophobia and

racism and any form of bigotry’”(Press). Another speaker was Ronald Lauder, President of the

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World Jewish Congress. He discussed that after the ending of World War II, “the world finally

saw pictures of gas chambers, [and] nobody in their right mind wanted to be associated with the

Nazis. But [then he saw] something [he] never thought [he] would see in [his] lifetime, the open

and brazen spread of anti-Jewish hatred”(Lapin). This statement comes after the surge in

anti-Semitic crimes in New York City by twenty-six percent over a year. As numerous people

spoke at this commemoration, they all stressed the same crucial message - never forget and never

repeat. As the last generation to have the opportunity to meet Holocaust survivors and hear their

stories, it is our responsibility to take their words seriously. Standing in the location where

millions of people perished, speakers were not only mentioning the overwhelming sadness of this

event in history but the importance of never allowing this history to repeat itself. Geller mentions

that this will only come from one of our greatest tools - education. With education, whether this

is a seminar about anti-Semitic hate crimes or a high school history class that includes in-depth

learning about the Holocaust, education is how we can move away from an ingrained historic

hatred to a more tolerant and accepting society.

Anti-Semitism is becoming more prevalent in the United States and around the world.

Simultaneously, pro-Jewish movements are gaining cadence, and the Jewish community is

banding together to combat this terrifying reality. The classic anti-Semitic tropes that we’ve seen

in the media certainly as of late that speak to, ‘Jews control the media’, ‘Jews control the world,

politics, financial markets, etc.’ are the reason that American Jewry faces the same

discrimination as Jewish people faced thousands of years ago. When speaking of what he would

like future generations of Jewish people to do about anti-Semitism, Geller explicates the

following:

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Anti-Semitism will always be called a canary in the coal mine. It is always indicative of a

culture that is brewing that’s much worse than what we can imagine. We do need to be

mindful that this is just indicative of something much worse to come, and it is a time that

we need allies. It is a time for us to completely understand our issue and really how we

can best advocate for ourselves and those around us. We cannot just depend on the

staunch advocates in our community that we all know or leaders of great Jewish

non-profit organizations. We all need to get involved, and that is what I strive to do and

something that I think everybody has in them.

Anti-Semitism is not only a signal of hatred towards the Jewish community but of a more serious

issue of accelerationism. Discrimination against any group of individuals is telling of who we are

as a society. “The history of the Holocaust shows that targeting an entire group has far-reaching

consequences. It leads to an increase in xenophobia, racism, and extremism throughout society,

with potentially devastating consequences for individuals, communities, and nations”(“Why the

Jews: History of Anti-Semitism”). We must be mindful. We must be mindful that anti-Semitism

is certainly alive and well, and it’s rearing its head in the nation which is supposed to be known

as the beacon of hope and acceptance. To combat anti-Semitism and create acceptance for

Jewish people worldwide, there must be a movement to demolish this historic hatred. How do we

unteach hatred? We cannot. Instead, we can start by teaching tolerance.

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Works Cited

"Anti-Semitism." Gale In Context Online Collection, Gale, 2020. Gale In Context: High

School,

https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/KCHOOJ210585573/SUIC?u=wal55317&sid=SUIC&xid=

14f5b3fc. Accessed 18 Mar. 2020.

"Anti-Semitic Incidents In The U.S. Appear To Be On The Rise." All Things Considered, 29

Oct. 2018. Gale In Context: High School,

https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/A561195724/SUIC?u=wal55317&sid=SUIC&xid=6d861c1

9. Accessed 18 Mar. 2020.

“Anti-Semitism Still Poisons Society.” Anti-Defamation League, 29 July 2013,

www.adl.org/news/op-ed/anti-semitism-still-poisons-society.

Engel, Robyn Alana. “PERCEIVED ANTI-SEMITISM AT UC BERKELEY: Jewish

Students' Subjective Experiences .” UC Berkeley Study, 1995,

research.policyarchive.org/10679.pdf.

Geller, Daniel. “Interview #1 With Mentor.” 26 Feb. 2020.

"Holocaust." Gale In Context Online Collection, Gale, 2019. Gale In Context: High School,

https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/DQZGIO222593884/SUIC?u=wal55317&sid=SUIC&xid=

5d429af4. Accessed 18 Mar. 2020.

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Lapin, Tamar. “Holocaust Survivors Warn of Anti-Semitism at Auschwitz Liberation

Anniversary.” New York Post, New York Post, 28 Jan. 2020,

nypost.com/2020/01/27/holocaust-survivors-warn-of-anti-semitism-at-auschwitz-liberatio

n-anniversary/.

Meenes, Max, "American Jews and Anti-Semitism" (1941). Faculty Reprints. Paper 139.

http://dh.howard.edu/reprints/139

Press, Associated. “Auschwitz Survivors Warn of Rising Global Anti-Semitism.” ​Time​, Time,

27 Jan. 2020, time.com/5772767/auschwitz-survivors-warn-anti-semitism/.

"Remembering Auschwitz: 75 Years Later." Youngzine, 4 Feb. 2020, p. NA. Gale In Context:

High School,

https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/A613524891/SUIC?u=wal55317&sid=SUIC&xid=30fa6be

a. Accessed 18 Mar. 2020.

Stack, Liam. “'Most Visible Jews' Fear Being Targets as Anti-Semitism Rises.” ​The New York

Times,​ The New York Times, 17 Feb. 2020,

www.nytimes.com/2020/02/17/nyregion/hasidic-jewish-attacks.html.

Ward, Myah, and Dan Levin. “Anti-Semitism or Free Speech? College Students Cheer and

Fear Trump Order.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 15 Dec. 2019,

www.nytimes.com/2019/12/15/us/trump-anti-semitism-order-college-students.html.

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“Why the Jews: History of Antisemitism.” United States Holocaust Memorial Museum,

United States Holocaust Memorial Museum,

www.ushmm.org/antisemitism/what-is-antisemitism/why-the-jews-history-of-antisemitis

m.

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