Israel Remembers the Holocaust while Anti-Semitism Is Spreading in Sweden.

Today is “Yom HaShoah” in Israel, known in English as “Holocaust Remembrance Day”. On this day, the citizens of Israel have no choice but to recall the painful memories of the tragedy and horror which struck the Jews of Europe during World War II. While Israelis swear to never allow history to repeat itself, paradoxically, anti-Semitism, terrifyingly similar to that of the 1930s and 40s is on the rise in Sweden.
 
On Yom HaShoah no theatres are open in Israel, and regular broadcasts are replaced with Holocaust documentaries and personal histories of the tragedy that swept through Jewish communities during the Nazi terror. At 10 o’clock in the morning a wailing siren sounds throughout the country reminding the citizens of Israel to remember those souls which were eliminated by the Nazi regime.

As Israelis today, some of them survivors from the death camps in Europe, remember the tragedy and their lost relatives, in other places in the world, like Sweden, anti-Semitism and Israel hate are on the rise.

In the Swedish city of Malmö, for example, many Jews are today scared to walk around openly displaying symbols of Judaism such as a Star of David necklace or wearing a kippah (yarmulke). Some Jews in Malmö have already experienced so much hatred, mainly originating from the Muslim population of the city that they now have now decided to leave for other Swedish towns or Israel.

Yesterday IDF Chief of Staff, Gabi Ashkenazi spoke at Yad Vashem and stated “never again shall we stand defenceless”. The Jews in Malmö on the other hand, are unfortunately doing exactly that. While the number of anti-Semitic hate crimes against Jews in Malmö doubled during the last year, the request for extra aid to the Malmö Jewish community was rejected last week by the Swedish government. The town is also currently run by a mayor who blames the Jews themselves for the anti-Semitic hate crimes perpetrated against them. http://swedenisrael.blogspot.com/2010/02/multiple-truths-of-ilmar-reepalu.html

The Jewish community in Malmö consists of some 650 members; a majority of them are survivors of the Holocaust and their descendants. Holocaust survivors in the community, such as, for example, 86-year-old Judith Popinski, had first-hand encounters in the 1940s with German anti-Semitism and its consequences. Today she says that the hatred that exists in Malmö today reminds her of her childhood. Popinski used to speak in schools about her experience in the holocaust but according to her;
"Muslim schoolchildren often ignore me now when I talk about my experiences in the camps," she said. "It is because of what their parents tell them about Jews. The hatreds of the Middle East have come to Malmo. Schools in Muslim areas of the city simply won't invite Holocaust survivors to speak any more."

Israelis today recall the tragedies and horrors of the Holocaust so that present and future generations will not let history repeat itself. Sadly enough this may be exactly what is happening in Swedish cities such as Malmö.