“Crown rebels” downplay the Holocaust – Jewish umbrella organization concerned

“Crown rebels” downplay Holocaust – umbrella organization of Swiss Jews concerned

The umbrella organization of Swiss Jews is concerned about the conspiracy theories surrounding Corona. There are many anti-Semitic statements, especially in the chat groups of the “Crown rebels”.

Christoph Bernet / ch media

1,500 people demonstrated against the crown measures at Wohlen AG on Saturday. One participant carried a banner with the inscription “Vaccination makes you free”: an allusion to the inscription “Arbeit macht frei” that was stamped on the entrance gate of the Auschwitz concentration camp. Here, the National Socialists murdered at least 1.1 million Jews in the Holocaust.

Several protesters wore yellow “Unvaccinated” stickers, based on the Jewish star that people of Jewish descent were required to wear under the Nazi regime.

Such trivializations of the Holocaust are not uncommon among so-called “Crown rebels.” This is demonstrated by the 2020 Antisemitism Report published on Tuesday, published by the Foundation against Racism and Antisemitism and the Swiss Association of Israelite Communities (SIG), the umbrella organization for Jewish communities in Switzerland.

“In relation to the corona pandemic, conspiracy theories are on the rise,” says GIS secretary general Jonathan Kreutner. Many of these theories are explicitly anti-Semitic: “Jews, for example, are supposed to control the world with the help of a staggered pandemic or they want to implant a chip in everyone with the Covid-19 vaccine.”

Unfortunately, in times of crisis, part of society would be the scapegoat for minorities. This pattern can also be seen in epidemics: “Even in the Middle Ages, Jews were blamed for the plague. Unfortunately, today we see similar behavior at Corona. The pandemic acts as a trigger that sets off a backlog of anti-Semitic incidents. “

Many supporters of anti-Semitic conspiracy theories

In German-speaking Switzerland, the report lists 47 anti-Semitic incidents including abuse, graffiti, and property damage. There are also 485 incidents in comments from online media, social media, and messaging apps. Given that there is no systematic monitoring of these channels, the number of unreported cases is likely to be high.

Kreutner is very concerned about the frequency of anti-Semitic content in “Corona rebels” chat groups on the Telegram messaging app: “There are many supporters of anti-Semitic conspiracy theories here.”

Given the size and heterogeneity of chat groups, it is likely to be a minority. Openly anti-Semitic statements partially contradict each other, the authors sometimes block themselves: “With 143 anti-Semitic incidents, these chat groups remain highly problematic.”

The trivialization of the Holocaust requires a “clear contradiction”

However, little or no contradiction between the “Crown rebels” reaps the Holocaust reduction that is widespread online or in demonstrations like Wohlen. They are not included in the internationally recognized criteria of anti-Semitism according to which the report is produced and are therefore not counted.

Yet Kreutner clearly says: “The frequency and indifference with which the Shoah is downplayed is concerning.” Anyone who rejects the crown’s measures should not abuse the worst crime in human history as a political protest: “We need clear arguments.”

Anti-Semitism exists in all political spheres and fields. But Kreutner is currently seeing a resurgence of classic far-right symbolism, like last week when the Biel synagogue was desecrated with swastikas. SIG general secretary Kreutner called the incident “the most serious attack on a Jewish institution in Switzerland for at least a decade.” (bzbasel.ch)