Antisemitism has never been defeated... it has just evolved

The answer lies in understanding the nature of antisemitism - and the way it has mutated since the ultimate crime of the Holocaust.

- LAURENCE REES

Historically, most antisemitism rested on religious hatred, with Jews being blamed for the death of Christ. But Hitler and the Nazis transformed Jewishness into a matter of “blood”, not belief. It no longer mattered whether someone was a Christian or a Hindu; if the Nazis believed Jewish blood ran in their veins, they were a target.

I shall never forget hearing Oskar Groning, an SS man I met who worked at Auschwitz, describe the murder of Jewish children. His words still chill: “The enemy is the blood in them – the [capacity] to grow up to be a Jew who could become dangerous. And because of that, the children were also affected.” For the Nazis, there was no such thing as an “innocent” Jew.