Antisemitism means prejudice against or hatred of Jews. The most violent and threatening acts of antisemitism often make headlines, but antisemitism also appears in subtler ways in daily life. Have you noticed it in online comments, conversations, or perhaps in graffiti or flyers in your neighborhood?
Today’s antisemites might blame Jews for the world’s problems; might imply that Jews have an outsized influence in media, business, or politics; or, might deny or diminish the facts of the Holocaust.
We all have a responsibility to call out this hatred and misinformation when we see it. The videos and stories below give historical examples of antisemitism and the impact it had when left unchecked.
Holocaust Survivors React to Antisemitism Today
As we continue to witness pervasive antisemitism around the globe, Jews have faced threats, insults, and violence in the places where they live, work, and go to school, as well as online, where antisemitism and dangerous propaganda spread rapidly. This environment is especially devastating for Holocaust survivors, who have witnessed where antisemitism can lead. Their testimony can inspire others to confront hate.
Why the Jews?
In this video, two Museum scholars explain that the Holocaust didn’t occur within a vacuum but was the culmination of centuries of anti-Jewish actions and prejudices. These insights help explain why European Jews were targeted by the Nazis in the 1930s and 1940s. The prejudices and stereotypes that contributed to the Holocaust remain dangerously influential today.
The Protocols of the Elders of Zion
One of the most notorious works of antisemitic propaganda in modern times, the “Protocols” first appeared at the turn of the 20th century in the Russian empire, claiming a false Jewish conspiracy to dominate the world. The Nazis were among those who exploited “Protocols” to justify mass murder.
Despite the publication being discredited as fake, neo-Nazis, white supremacists, and Holocaust deniers continue to endorse and circulate it, reinforcing long-standing and deep-seated hatred of Jews.
The History of Antisemitism
The specific hatred of Jews preceded the modern era and the coining of the term antisemitism. The Nazis built upon centuries of anti-Jewish sentiment—religious, economic, and political—but viewed the Jews as a separate and dangerous “race” that could never be assimilated into European society.
Personal Stories
With the Nazi rise to power in 1933, the party ordered anti-Jewish economic boycotts, staged book burnings, and enacted discriminatory anti-Jewish legislation. In 1935, the Nuremberg Laws racially defined Jews by “blood” and ordered the total separation of so-called “Aryans” and “non-Aryans,” thereby legalizing the Nazi racist hierarchy and worldview.
These German Jews experienced the effects of Nazi antisemitism firsthand.
Ilse Oschinsky poses with her friend Renate Glogowsky. —United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, courtesy of Ilse Sakheim
Ilse Sakheim's childhood was marked by gradually increasing antisemitism in Germany—beginning with schoolyard taunts and escalating to state-sponsored violence.
“They were starting to not let Jews go to the swimming pool, not let Jews go to the skating rink, not to allow you to sit on certain park benches,” remembered Ilse (pictured, left). “They had signs up in the stores, which said ‘Aryan’ … . Pretty soon after that, the stores didn't just say ‘Aryan,’ but they said ‘Jews not wanted.’”
On April 1, 1933, when she was seven years old, armed Nazi Storm Troopers stood outside her father’s retail store, prohibiting customers from entering. Her father, Kurt, had to close the store shortly thereafter. In the years that followed, Ilse watched her classmates join the Hitler Youth and the League of German Girls. They began taunting her, calling her a “bloody Jew.”
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Learn more about the different types of antisemitism and how to identify them.