A Nazi-themed restaurant has recently reopened in Indonesia, but the owners insist that it is simply World War II themed, and no one should be offended. Yet, Nazi flags and propaganda adorn the walls. Adolf Hitler’s picture hangs prominently, and waiters serve in Nazi uniforms. Even after closing down to change to a more general WWII theme, evidence on its Facebook page clearly shows otherwise.
As long as there are groups of people who feel that it is acceptable to idolize Hitler and the Nazis, there is the possibility of rekindling unhealthy ideologies that should have dies with the Holocaust. No one should be allowed to glamorize any reference on symbol of that awful time.
6. Attacks on Synagogues
In July, a Paris synagogue was firebombed on a Friday night, Shabbat, Sabbath for the Jews. While no one was injured in that attack, the same cannot be said of more recent incidents.
In November, an attack on a Kehillat Bnei Torah synagogue in Har Nof Jerusalem resulted in the death of five and the wounding of eight other worshippers. Four of the murdered were rabbis and the last, a police officer. Two Palestinian men, identified as Ghassan Abu Jamal and his cousin, Udayy, entered the building as the mainly Orthodox Jews were in prayer and attacked with meat cleavers and a gun. An eye witness estimated that approximately 25 worshippers were in the synagogue at the time of the attack. The pictures of this bloodbath are too disturbing for this writer to view, but again reflect the plight of Jews during the Holocaust.
7. Destroying Jewish Cemeteries
From all over the world vandalism of Jewish cemeteries appear. From Norway, we hear of several Jewish tombstones vandalized with purple spray paint. Nineteen headstones were toppled over in Worcester Hebrew Cemetery. Over a two-night period of time in Greece over forty headstones were knocked over, and at the Mount of Olives in eastern Jerusalem during the Rosh HaShana holiday, more than forty graves were vandalized at an ancient cemetery. I couldn’t possibly list all of the Jewish cemetery incidents in recent months, because unfortunately, they are too numerous.
These occurrences seem to have become more prevalent in recent months, and each incident causes great pain for the Jewish relatives whose loved ones are buried in the affected locations. Some Jews have fought anti-Semitism throughout their lives. It is a shame that they cannot even escape it in death.
This is not the first time in history that Jewish graves have been desecrated. During the Holocaust and the years immediately preceding it, many similar incidences occurred and the destroyed headstones used in the making of roads. In a small town in Belarus, approximately fifteen hundred headstones were recently discovered as part of their building foundations and infrastructure. Is it just a matter of time before today’s vandalized stones suffer a similar state?
8. Nazi style imagery appearing in advertising
Historically reflective acts and symbols of anti-Semitism are not limited to small factions of Neo-Nazi activists. They are making their way into the mainstream more and more often. Recently, rap artist Nicki Minaj was under fire for Nazi-like symbols used in her new music video. From red armbands to red and black flags, the images mimic a Nazi rally with Hitler at the helm.
It is troubling, to say the least, that someone so influential with today’s youth should so freely and tastelessly surround herself with painful reminders of a horrible time in our history. While she apologizes and claims that she had nothing to do with the idea, she did participate, and the director of the video offers no apologies. The accepted use of such propaganda directly reflects that used be Joseph Goebells and the Nazi party One principle of the Propaganda Minister was that Propaganda must be carefully timed. Ironically, Ms. Minaj’s video debuted on the 76th Anniversary of Kristallnacht, the Night of Broken Glass. These are dangerous parallels that young unsuspecting minds might not yet understand until they pervade even further into societal mainstream, at which time, it might be too late to stop the detrimental influence.