The Remembrance Society Condemns Hatred and Violence Against Jews in the Netherlands

WASHINGTON, Nov. 9, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Violent attacks targeting Jews took place in Amsterdam on Thursday evening following a soccer match that left a number of Israelis wounded. Antisemitic mobs hunted down dozens of Israeli soccer fans who had traveled to Amsterdam to watch Israeli soccer team Maccabi Tel Aviv play in the Dutch capital, some of whom were violently run down, beaten, and stabbed, leaving five Israelis hospitalized.

Following the attacks, the government of Israel dispatched planes to the Netherlands to evacuate Israelis at risk back to Israel and urged those staying to remain in their hotels and not wear any visible signs of Jewish or Israeli identity on the street until they could return safely.

All this, about a year after the greatest violence against Jews since the Holocaust on October 7 when Hamas terrorists stormed into Israel, murdering, torturing, burning alive, raping and dismembering pregnant women and babies in front of their families. Sadly, these unspeakable crimes against some 1200 Jews, a number equivalent to more than 35,000 Americans, have stimulated many in America and the West to protest and demonstrate on Hamas' behalf. 

On November 9–10, 1938, Nazi leaders unleashed a series of pogroms against the Jewish population in Germany and recently incorporated territories. This event came to be called Kristallnacht (The Night of Broken Glass) because of the shattered glass that littered the streets after the vandalism and destruction of Jewish-owned businesses, synagogues, and homes. The attacks against Jews in Amsterdam took place on November 7, two days before the anniversary of Kristallnacht.

Congressman Don Ritter, Founding Chairman of The Remembrance Society, stated: "The 'Pogrom' of hatred and violence perpetrated against Jews in the Netherlands last night brought to mind the historic National Socialist Party (Nazi) violence against the Jewish people. Nazism, Fascism, Communism and Radical Islam share common ground in their respective versions of totalitarian ideology. All demand complete subservience of the individual to a faith posited to achieve a greater good for all. They all condone, indeed promote, violence as a means to achieve that 'greater good'. The Remembrance Society is dedicated to better educating and communicating the horrors of totalitarian ideologies and their destructive impact on people, peace and progress."

According to data compiled by The Remembrance Society experts, between 1933-1945, an estimated 16 million people were murdered (not including those killed in battle) by the Nazis including 6 million Jews during the Holocaust. The history of totalitarianism in the twentieth century is too little known in the West. This is why educating students and commemorating the victims is so important. Knowledge of the crimes of past totalitarian tyrants can be an important barrier to future dictators seeking unlimited power without concern for the human cost of their ambitions.

Kristina Olney, Founding Executive Director of The Remembrance Society, stated: "It is unfathomable that a pogrom the likes of which were seen in 1930s Germany has happened again in Europe. We condemn in the strongest terms the violent antisemitic attacks that took place, and urge the vigilance of the governments of Europe and the international community against a resurgence of this evil ideology. The Remembrance Society believes that the best way to prevent the horrors of the twentieth century from being repeated is to advance knowledge of the history and ideology of totalitarianism and we are dedicated to achieving this and to exposing the crimes of totalitarianism in all its evil forms."

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SOURCE The Remembrance Society