Hitler Archives - Page 2 of 3 - The New Antisemitism

February 26, 2020 By Olivier Melnick Leave a Comment

Hitler would be very proud of the Aalst Carnival in Belgium!

The city of Aalst, Belgium has officially held its carnival since 1923. Parades of that sort actually go back to the Middle Ages. Aalst almost always makes the news for its 3-Day carnival taking place yearly at the end of February. The organizers repeatedly claim that the satirical tone of the carnival is to be remembered when one considers any of its floats. They claim to poke fun at people indiscriminately. Freedom of press and freedom of expression are at the core of the Aalst Carnival, and within reason, in a world where these two are quickly being squeezed out, if not disappearing altogether, this is a breath of fresh air that we must respect. Unless it is taken too far!

Going back to the French Revolution of 1789, the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen said in its article 11, “The free communication of ideas and opinions is one of the most precious of the rights of man. Every citizen may, accordingly, speak, write, and print with freedom, but shall be responsible for such abuses of this freedom as shall be defined by law. Furthermore, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights added in its article 19, “Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers.” Important boundaries for all of mankind were put in place to protect our freedoms on just about every level. The laws are in place to protect us, but keep in mind, that even if something is not illegal, it does not mean it is appropriate. We should never allow ourselves to abuse the power of free speech, even in a satire!

Belgium also has some very specific boundaries regarding freedom of speech, like most countries in the West. Through an organization known as UNIA, Belgium monitors and defends people who have been victims of discrimination. They are very helpful in determining when freedom of speech crosses the line and becomes racism and/or incitement.

The 2019 Aalst Carnival featured some giant orthodox Jews with grotesque facial features, wearing pink outfits with oversized shtreimels (Jewish fur hats) with rats on their shoulders and money bursting out of their pockets. The depiction was so despicably antisemitic that even UNESCO–not Israel’s strongest supporter over the years–decided to remove the Aalst Carnival from its list of “cultural heritage of Humanity.”

The embarrassment created by the UNESCO removal in 2019 should have taught the organizers a lesson and should have given them a serious incentive to put an end to the antisemitic elements of the carnival. Instead, it appears that it emboldened them to go further. This would be outrage at any time of history, but in 2020, it is oil thrown onto the fire of global antisemitism. This will inevitably provide justification to those who want to kill Jews, as we are starting to witness that again.

The “Aalst Jews of 2020” were again wearing oversized shtreimels, dressed in black this year, but the bottom half of their bodies were that of insects or vermin; ants to be exact.

A small replica of the Western Wall was also paraded with words “complain ant” (words that apparently look like the words Western Wall in dutch.) Joining the crowds were dozens of people wearing caricatural orthodox Jewish garb and large fake crooked noses, not to mention the many flyers with stereotypical renditions of Jews with side curls, crooked noses and curly hair.

The 1940 Nazi propaganda film “The Wandering Jew” depicted Jewish people as rats coming out of sewers to invade the world. Jews were compared to parasites and vermin. In other Nazi works, they were compared to insects like lice that must be exterminated. You know the rest of the story. Antisemites currently do not need any incentive to hate the Jews, so why go there?

Without the help of Aalst Carnival, global Jews are again at risk for their lives. Comparing them to insects or rats is giving antisemites justification for their actions, When the mayor of Aalst was asked, he responded that there was no antisemitism in his city. Seriously? Even Belgian Prime Minister Sophie Wilmes ONLY stated that the carnival “was causing damage to our values and the reputation of our country.” Unfortunately, words never condemn actions unless they are followed by consequences for those actions.

The Aalst Carnival MUST stop its antisemitism and all other kinds of xenophobic displays or it should not be allowed to continue. I don’t care how funny people think it was–as all watchers were smiling or laughing as the floats passed by them–it continues to fuel the unnecessary and irrational global tsunami of antisemitism that is now claiming Jewish lives again!

In 2013, they chose to wear Gestapo uniforms, walked around wearing cans labeled “Zyklon B” — the poison that the Nazis used to kill Jews in gas chambers, and paraded a cattle car similar to those used to transport Jews during the Holocaust. At this rate, it won’t be long before the floats look like crematoria or gas chambers!

Well, actually, it was only a day later that the city of Campo de Criptana, Spain featured such a float in their parade. Nazi uniforms, train car and crematoria along with prisoners in striped outfits. Some say that the village is a great friend of Israel. Even if they are, what a poor way to commemorate the Holocaust!

Is it time for all the Jews of Belgium to make aliyah to Israel?

Aaslt you would make Hitler very proud!

July 16, 2018 By Olivier Melnick Leave a Comment

Haman, Hitler and BDS: We should know better!

What do the book of Esther, the Nuremberg Laws of 1933 and the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement have in common? A lot more than meets the eye! There is a theme found in Esther about Haman’s disdain for the Jewish people that is quite unique in the biblical record. We find the first step in Chapter 3 where Haman puts his curse against the Jews in motion, and because of one Jew, namely Mordecai, Haman seeks to destroy all of them. We start seeing the irrational behaviors promoted by an anti-Semitic heart. Haman seeks to destroy all the Jews of the Persian Empire (at that time the vast majority of the Jews lived in the Persian empire, thus Haman sought to kill ALL THE JEWS). In a sense, Haman tries to make anti-Semitism a government-sanctioned policy

After these events, King Ahasuerus promoted Haman, the son of Hammedatha the Agagite, and advanced him and established his authority over all the princes who were with him. And all the king’s servants who were at the king’s gate bowed down and paid homage to Haman; for so the king had commanded concerning him. But Mordecai neither bowed down nor paid homage. When Haman saw that Mordecai neither bowed down nor paid homage to him, Haman was filled with rage. But he disdained to lay hands on Mordecai alone, for they had told him who the people of Mordecai were; therefore Haman sought to destroy all the Jews, the people of Mordecai, who were throughout the whole kingdom of Ahasuerus. (Esther 3:1-2, 6-5)

Furthermore, he proceeds to give the reason why the Jews are not wanted in Ahasuerus’ kingdom, and that is simply because they are different from everybody else and Haman feels that they just don’t fit.

Then Haman said to King Ahasuerus, “There is a certain people scattered and dispersed among the peoples in all the provinces of your kingdom; their laws are different from those of all other people, and they do not observe the king’s laws, so it is not in the king’s interest to let them remain. (Esther 3:8)

Haman realizes that his endeavor will require some logistical finesse, so he asks the king to issue a decree for the destruction of the Jewish people. He even offers to finance the carnage.

“If it is pleasing to the king, let it be decreed that they be destroyed, and I will pay ten thousand talents of silver into the hands of those who carry on the king’s business,…And letters were sent by couriers to all the king’s provinces to destroy, to kill, and to annihilate all the Jews, both young and old, women and children, in one day, the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, which is the month Adar, and to seize their possessions as plunder.
(Esther 3:9-13)

Fast forward to 1935, the Nuremberg Laws were introduced and Jewish people lost their citizenship. Marriage and/or sexual relations between Jews and Aryans were prohibited and severely punished. Additionally, guidelines were created to determine who in Germany would qualify as a “mischling” (half breed) and who wouldn’t. The Nuremberg Laws would set the stage for the final delegitimization of the Jewish people before the Final Solution could be implemented. By 1935, Hitler was solidly established in power. Few, if any, would dare to contradict him. His obsession with the “Jewish problem” would soon lead him to the next step in his attempt at the destruction of European Jewry. While the outcome was unfortunately different in each case, the process by which Haman sought to annihilate the Jews as seen in various verses of Esther 3 and the one used by Hitler have many similarities:

One Man’s jealousy led into uncontrolled hatred (Esther 3:5) – Hitler was obsessed with the destruction of all Jews.
Targeted hatred became global hatred (Esther 3:6, 13) – Nazis would go out of their ways and way beyond Germany to go get Jewish people and bring them to the camps.
Hatred was apparently caused because of non-conformity (Esther 3:8) – The “Aryan race” and the now debunked science of Eugenics very precisely categorized the Jews as a sub-human race.
Attempted annihilation of the Jews was structured and organized (Esther 3:9-13) – “The final solution to the Jewish Question”– a euphemism for the Holocaust, was a very well oiled machine that took the life of 6,000,000 in a very short period of time. Nazi Germany utilized the European railroads to go find Jews as far as the trains would allow them to go.
Funds were spent and financial wealth was provided for the perpetrators (Esther 3:9, 4:7) – Hitler used a lot of his resources to get the Jews, to the point where he lacked many of them during the Russian campaign at the end of World War Two.

We can clearly see the correlation between Haman’s attempt to annihilate the Jews and Hitler’s evil agenda of death, but what about the current BDS movement? BDS co-founder Omar Barghouti doesn’t even hide the fact that the ultimate goal of BDS is the eradicaton of Israel. BDS is another way to delegitimize Israel in the eyes of the global community in the name of human rights and social justice. Yet, under this self-righteous veneer of human rights activism, is a new brand of antisemitism. Whole countries are now starting to follow suit. Ireland just passed a law to Boycott Israeli products from Israeli settlements.

Just like Haman and Hitler, BDS proponents are:

• Trying to make anti-Semitism a government-sanctioned policy

• Painting the Jewish people as misfits of society as Israel “occupies Palestine.”

• Recruiting the help of willing promoters and seeking financial back-up anywhere they can find it.

Satan, the ultimate enemy of the Jews is constantly re-inventing himself to further demonize and ostracize Israel. Ideologically, BDS is an extension of Hitler’s agenda which was parallel to Haman’s agenda. BDS is a lot more than an economic, academic or entertainment boycott. People need to dig a bit deeper to see the real motives of that sick movement.
Incidentally, when we are told by BDS to stop buying Israeli products, we should do the exact opposite and support Israel’s economy. How? It is quite simple. Go to a BDS website and buy the exact products they tell you to stay away from. They’ve done all the work for you!

February 28, 2018 By Olivier Melnick Leave a Comment

Purim through the ages and the faithfulness of God!

Wednesday, February 28, 2018, marks the celebration of the Jewish festival of Purim. Jewish people around the world gather to recall God’s protection in days of old. People eat special foods, dress up and read the Megillat Ester or scroll of Esther in the synagogue, where a lot of noise is made at the calling of the names of the three main protagonists: Mordechai, Esther and Haman. Gifts are often exchanged as well as donations made to charity.

• PURIM IN THE BIBLE: The first time we read about Purim, is at the end of the book of Esther–a book about God’s miraculous preservation of the Jewish people–even though this is the only book of the Bible where God is never mentioned by name. The story of Purim is also a very strong post-Genesis example of God’s promise to Abraham to bless those who bless him and curse him who curses Abraham (Genesis 12:3.) Haman, the archenemy of the Jews built gallows to hang Mordechai, and at the end, he and all of his sons were hanging on these very gallows…A curse for a curse!

Haman’s approach to the “Jewish problem” is worth looking at from the perspective of Satan, the ultimate enemy of the Jews. Early on (Genesis 3:15), Satan had come up with a master plan: Use people to destroy the Jews on a global scale; thus anti-Semitism was born
In Esther chapter 3, Haman puts his curse against the Jews in motion, and because of one Jew, namely Mordecai, Haman seeks to destroy all of them. We start seeing the irrational behaviors promoted by an anti-Semitic heart. Haman seeks to destroy ALL THE JEWS of the Persian Empire where many of them lived at the time.

In a sense, Haman tried to make anti-Semitism a government-sanctioned policy, something that will be picked up again much later in history by Nazi German. We read in Esther 3:1-2, 6-5: “After these events, King Ahasuerus promoted Haman, the son of Hammedatha the Agagite, and advanced him and established his authority over all the princes who were with him. And all the king’s servants who were at the king’s gate bowed down and paid homage to Haman; for so the king had commanded concerning him. But Mordecai neither bowed down nor paid homage. When Haman saw that Mordecai neither bowed down nor paid homage to him, Haman was filled with rage. But he disdained to lay hands on Mordecai alone, for they had told him who the people of Mordecai were; therefore Haman sought to destroy all the Jews, the people of Mordecai, who were throughout the whole kingdom of Ahasuerus.

Furthermore, he proceeds to give the reason why the Jews are not wanted in Ahasuerus’ kingdom, and that is simply because THEY ARE DIFFERENT. “Then Haman said to King Ahasuerus, “There is a certain people scattered and dispersed among the peoples in all the provinces of your kingdom; their laws are different from those of all other people, and they do not observe the king’s laws, so it is not in the king’s interest to let them remain. (Esther 3:8)

Haman realizes that his endeavor will require some logistical finesse, so he asks the king to issue a decree for the destruction of the Jewish people. “If it is pleasing to the king, let it be decreed that they be destroyed, and I will pay ten thousand talents of silver into the hands of those who carry on the king’s business,…And letters were sent by couriers to all the king’s provinces to destroy, to kill, and to annihilate all the Jews, both young and old, women and children, in one day, the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, which is the month Adar, and to seize their possessions as plunder. (Esther 3:9-13)

While the outcome was unfortunately different in both cases, the process by which Haman sought to annihilate the Jews and the one used by Hitler have many similarities.
• One Man’s jealousy led to uncontrolled hatred (3:5)
• Targeted hatred became global hatred (3:6, 13)
• Hatred was apparently caused because of non-conformity (3:8)
• Attempted annihilation of the Jews was structured and organized (3:9-13)
• Funds were spent and financial wealth was provided for the perpetrators (3:9, 4:7)

• PURIM in the 1940s: Soon after coming to power, Hitler quickly banned the celebration of the Jewish festivals including Purim. In a speech delivered the day after Kristallnacht, in November 1938, Julius Streicher (1885-1946), Hitler’s “Director of the Central Committee for the Defense against Jewish Atrocity and Boycott Propaganda” declared that since the Jews killed 75,000 Persians in the days of Esther, the same fate could befall the German people and so the Jews had to be stopped. Again, the “curse-for-a-curse” biblical principle was applied to Streicher who eight years later was executed on the gallows at the end of the Nuremberg Trials. Streicher looked at the audience in the courtroom and yelled “Purim Fest 1946”, as his final claim that the Jews were out to get him. It would have required a certain knowledge of the Jewish lifestyle and festivals for Streicher to even make the parallel.

PURIM IN 2018: Satan knows that he cannot succeed but he tries without ceasing. He has indoctrinated much of the world against the Jewish people, creating anti-Semitism and making it the oldest and most enduring form of hatred against a people group. While he keeps sub-contracting his hatred to different groups of people, the danger remains the same and the Jewish people continue to be the “scapegoats of humanity”. The same approach used in biblical days and during Hitler’s reign is used today by historical revisionists, BDS promoters, Christian Palestinianism proponents and all other enemies of Israel and the Jewish people. If they had their way, Israel would be erased from the map and the Jewish people completely eradicated from existence and from history. But in a very “Purimesque” ending, Israel will prevail and the Jewish people will continue to flourish.

Be it during biblical times, during the 1930s and 1940s or even today, through thick and thin, God has always had Israel in the palm of His hand. Even though He was absent by name in the book of Esther and it felt more like “the eclipse of God” during the Holocaust, He never reneged on His promises. So today, we can celebrate Purim with confidence and with joy because the same God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob has our back and keeps His word.

Chag Purim Sameach!

April 14, 2017 By Olivier Melnick Leave a Comment

Marine Le Pen: A frenemy almost worth supporting!

Only days away from the first round of the French Presidential elections, the usual choice of candidates spreads across the political spectrum from extreme right to extreme left. France seems disillusioned with the last Hollande five-year term. The country is a very unique blend of cultures that have never integrated very well in the French republic. France is both the country with the most Jewish people after Israel and the USA (500,000), as well as the largest Muslim community of Europe(5 to 6,000.000.)

France is also not immune to the current refugee crisis that has plagued much of Eastern and Western Europe in the last two years. The open borders of Europe according to the Schengen Agreement are making things hard if not impossible to manage. The governments of Germany and Sweden are struggling to maintain order in the midst of a constant flow of un-vetted and unmanageable migrants. It is impossible to assess how many refugees come through these countries and even harder to keep track of those who just pass through to land into another European country, not to mention those who adhere to an agenda of terror.

Few are those in Europe who are bold enough to speak-up, as if The Old Europe was resigned to no longer fight for freedom of speech, freedom of religion and freedom of the press. Cultural euthanasia seems to be looming over parts of Europe, so it is not unreasonable for people to look for candidates with an agenda focused on the national security of France. Enter Marine Le Pen!

The “Front National” party (FN) has been somewhat of a thorn in the flesh of France since its founding in 1972 by Marine’s father, Jean-Marie Le Pen. It is a far-right populist party with anti-immigration, euro-sceptic and antisemitic views. Jean-Marie Le Pen was fined several times for saying that the Holocaust was a”detail of history.” He also claimed that the Vichy government run by Maréchal Pétain during the Second World War was not inhumane in its help provided to round-up over 78,000 Jews out of France. In spite of all this, he actually made the elections run-off in 2002.

In 2011, After he had promised to retire, Jean-Marie was replaced by his daughter Marine at the head of the party. She immediately started to work on changing the xenophobic image of the FN in an effort to gain more popularity amidst the French voting bloc. Politically, France had always been characterized by a right/left polarization usually leading to alternating power every presidential election. Marine’s desire to put the FN on the French political map was somewhat successful. In the 2012 presidential election, she garnered 18% of the French vote which was the most the FN ever got. Then in 2014, during the European Parliament elections, the FN got 22 of France’s 74 seats at the European Parliament. Then, in August 2015, Marine Le Pen expelled her father from the FN altogether.

Many people in France are actually anxious about the outcome of the 2017 elections. The FN current agenda is attractive to many because of its push on ending immigration, fighting Radical Islam, and even pull France out of Europe in a Brexit style move. Marine Le Pen vows to reinstate and close French borders if elected. What ‘s wrong with such an idea? The last few years have seen France be the victim of several major terrorist attacks resulting in over 230 deaths. Promises were made by François Hollande to fight terrorism and antisemitism but in the end, very little was accomplished. Nobody knows where, when or even how the Islamic State will strike next.

Le Pen promises to keep France safe, keep it French and keep it going. She is currently neck-to-neck with Center-Left Emmanuel Macron. She insists that Jewish people should have nothing to fear if she is the next president. There are actually some Jewish people who believe that she would lead France in the right direction, and like them, I believe that she has something good to offer. Yet, the image that she has been working so hard at re-creating in the last decade might turn out to be a very thin veneer. Her true colors are not deep under that veneer.

She recently stated that France shouldn’t be held responsible for the Vel d’Hiv roundup and the French Militia that fed Hitler and the Nazis almost 80,000 Jews. She tried to back pedal, but it was too late and the memories of Jean Marie Le Pen’s antisemitic remarks of yesteryear were back haunting France and its Jewish community. How can one say that France was not involved in the Vel d’Hiv roundup? Saying that the French government was in exile in London is accurate, yet there were plenty of French officials and sympathizers who stayed behind and became some of Hitler’s willing perpetrators at worst or detached bystanders at best. Even if most of France was made of bystanders during WWII, they greatly facilitated the work of Hitler’s willing murderers.

Marine Le Pen might make it through the first round of the elections on April 23, and possibly with votes from French Jewry. If she wins–and it is unlikely– France might benefit from some of her policies. Then again, Donald Trump won against all odds. While I am not comparing his administration to that of a Front National government, Marine Le Pen could win in the biggest upset in French history. Unfortunately, I am not convinced that Jewish people would become safer in France under a Le Pen administration.

January 22, 2016 By Olivier Melnick 8 Comments

Is Holocaust Denial Really about the Holocaust?

In 2005, The United Nations General Assembly passed Resolution 60/7 to officially choose January 27 as the International Day of Commemoration in memory of the victims of the Holocaust. This is the day when the world is supposed to mark and remember the Holocaust and its victims.

2016 marks the 71st anniversary of the Liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau. Today more than ever, the motto NEVER AGAIN needs to be repeated to older generations and taught to the newer ones. as very few of the Holocaust survivors remain alive today, we run the risk of forgetting one of the most–if not the most–tragic genocide of human history.

This date is different from the Jewish commemoration of Yom HaShoah that takes place each spring in Israel. The International Day is an event sponsored by the United Nations. Even though I have lost faith in the ability or even the willingness of the UN to deal with Israel fairly, I appreciate UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon’s statement about this event: “Denying historical facts, especially on such an important subject as the Holocaust, is just not acceptable. Nor is it acceptable to call for the elimination of any State or people. I would like to see this fundamental principle respected both in rhetoric and in practice by all the members of the international community”. Of course, with all the pressure applied at the UN by many countries who are vowed enemies of the Jewish State, the tug-o-war between historical accuracy and political correctness is ever present.

In 1978, staunch antisemite Willis Carto founded the Institute for Historical Review (IHR.) Mr. Carto passed away last year but the website is still up and even though their administrator claim that they are not Holocaust deniers, their site is replete with books, videos, CDs and DVDs promoting that very view. It is interesting to note that a site called “Institute for Historical Review” almost exclusively deals with Holocaust denial and Jewish cabal theories. IHR is one of many websites promoting historical revisionism, yet they have in common to focus on Israel, the Jews and the Holocaust more than anything else.

On one hand, it is only when it comes to the Holocaust that people come out of nowhere with a pseudo-scholarly approach to the Jewish tragedy. People like David Irving, Louis Faurisson, Roger Garaudy, Louis Farrakhan or Bobby Fisher are just a few names in the pantheon of antisemitism and Holocaust denial. It appears to be such an obsession for these men (and many more) to prove that the Jewish catastrophe was a hoax.
On the other hand, very few people, if any, are interested in writing books trying to play down or deny events such as the Sudanese mass killings, the war in Kosovo, the Armenian genocide or even the Stalin massacres. All these tragedies (and so many more throughout history) were responsible for the death of millions of innocent people. When one evaluates the level of interest in denying the Holocaust as opposed to any other genocide, there is a flagrant imbalance. Why?

Additionally, nobody seems to hold any ethnic group or sub-group corporately responsible for the ills inflicted by a small section of their community onto another ethnic group. This being said, we would even have to prove that Israeli Jews are guilty of ethnic cleansing against Palestinians, and they are not. But, let us assume that it is the case for a moment. The question would then arise:” Why should all Jews be equally responsible for what Israelis do to Palestinians?” Logically, they shouldn’t, right? But you see, antisemitism is highly illogical.

Using the same logic, all Turks of all times should be held corporately responsible for the Armenian genocide of the 20^th Century. There is certainly a small percentage of people who hate the Turks, but nobody sees all Turks of all times responsible by proxy. Yet this is exactly what looms over the global Jew wherever he is geographically or historically. Even Jewish people today–and as difficult as it might be–do not see all Germans as Nazis.

So maybe, Holocaust denial is more about the demonization and ostracism of the global Jew than it is about historical revisionism. This would lead the world to consider the Jews as lesser important or even “sub-human”. This concept was exactly what Hitler used to justify the Holocaust. So wait a minute, Holocaust denial could lead to another Holocaust?

It is exactly for that reason that we must continue to remember the Holocaust; because of Holocaust deniers. We must also continue to remember the Armenian genocide, but that one doesn’t seem to suffer at the hands of Armenian Genocide deniers (the same principle applies to all other genocides). Even though we continue to witness an increase in “Holocaust fatigue”, for as long as people try to tell us that the Holocaust never happened, it is OUR duty as decent human beings to continue to tell them and the rest of the world that IT DID happen, because very soon, all the first hand witnesses of the Catastrophe will be all gone.

In all their affliction He was afflicted, And the angel of His presence saved them; In His love and in His mercy He redeemed them, And He lifted them and carried them all the days of old. Isaiah 63:9

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