Forum explores rise of anti-Semitism in Europe

A packed audience filled Ramona Mainstage to celebrate American Liberty Forum of Ramona’s (formerly Ramona Tea’d) 100th symposium and to honor the contributions of previous chairmen Jim Fontana and Jim Tapscott with cake and a violin rendition of patriotic songs. As the main event, the audience viewed San Diego County’s premiere of Dr. Evelyn Markus’ documentary “Never Again Is Now.”

This poignant documentary chronicles Markus’ 70-year family history with anti-Semitism in the Netherlands, first during World War II and then with it reemerging again.

Markus is a Jew born and raised in the Netherlands, where her family goes back more than 400 years. She is a second generation Holocaust survivor whose parents both beat the odds of surviving, as it is estimated that nearly 80 percent of Dutch Jews were killed in Nazi concentration camps. Her father was taken into hiding by Dutch Christians, and her mother and family were interned in the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp.

Her mother’s family subsequently was transferred by train to go to a gas chamber in Theresienstadt Czechoslovakia as part of Hitler’s “Final Solution.” On April 13, 1945, with the war winding down and American troops surrounding them on all sides, the Nazis abandoned the train with its cargo of 2,500 emaciated and ill Jewish passengers near Magdeburg. For the rest of Markus’ mother’s life, she passed down the stories of the Nazi atrocities Jews endured during WWII, and she marked April 13 as a day of celebrating her second chance at life.

The American soldiers who liberated the trains were from the 743rd Tank Battalion, 30th Infantry Division of the 9th Army. The prisoners were seized with joy at the sight of the American tanks and their soldiers — they were instantly transformed from nonhuman slaves into a free people. Many of these Holocaust survivors and their families personally met and thanked their American rescuers in the past decade. Countless Jewish families have been able to grow and survive because of the United States and these liberators.

Markus said she and her partner, Rosa Zeegers, who is also a second generation Holocaust survivor, noticed a marked increase in anti-Semitism, especially after the 9/11 terrorist attacks. They saw Dutch Muslims celebrating the attacks, children holding pictures of Osama bin Laden, and groups becoming more volatile and demonstrative in their approval of terrorism and their hatred of the Jews.

The Holocaust as a subject ceased to be taught in schools because of Muslim children becoming hostile over the subject matter, and Jews had to become “invisible” so that they would not be threatened, humiliated or attacked, she said. When Dutch author and filmmaker Theo van Gogh was assassinated by Mohammed Bouyeri, member of a jihadist group, for making a film with Islamic critic Ayaan Hirsi Ali about violence against women in Islam, Markus and Zeegers decided to leave Amsterdam. Bouyeri stabbed a letter onto van Gogh’s chest which accused Dutch politics being dominated by the Jews. Ayaan Hirsi Ali, a former Muslim refugee and subsequent member of Parliament in the Netherlands, has criticized Muslim mistreatment of women, gays, and Jews. She was forced into hiding, then immigrated to the United States also.

Upon return visits to the Netherlands, Markus said she and Zeegers have witnessed even further acceleration of an anti-Semitism such as pro-Palestinian rallies where Muslims chanted, “Hamas! Hamas! Jews to the gas!” Far-left Dutch politicians are joining and supporting these rallies as free speech. In the movie, Markus interviews various Jews, religious leaders, politicians, and noted former Muslim Ayan Hirsi Ali and practicing moderate Muslim Dr. Qanta Ahmed. All agree that Jews today cannot walk freely in the Netherlands, and throughout Europe, without being subject to calls of “Cancer Jew,” as well as of threats of violence. Both of these women advocate and educate Muslims to reform their feelings toward Israel and the Jewish people.

Markus sees parallels between Nazi Germany and the rise of anti-Semitism in Europe today. Anti-Semitism initially began in Germany with harassment and hate speech including graffiti and threats. Today, these actions are regular occurrences in the Netherlands and other cities in Europe, according to the documentary. Jews are leaving en masse from Europe and emigrating to safer nations such as the United States to escape. Markus declared, “From what I have seen of anti-Semitism and what my family has experienced, it is my mission to join the forces that liberated my parents.” She cited Yehuda Bauer, an Israeli Holocaust scholar: “Thou shalt not be a victim, thou shalt not be a perpetrator, but above all thou shalt not be a bystander.”