EU's von der Leyen condemns anti-Semitism surge since October 7
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen on Friday condemned the massive rise in anti-Semitism across Europe in the wake of the Hamas terrorist attacks on Israel on October 7, DPA reports.
"European Jews are again living in fear," von der Leyen said ahead of the International Day of Holocaust Remembrance and the 79th anniversary of the liberation of the Auschwitz concentration camp.
The victims of Nazi dictatorship have for decades been commemorated on January 27, the day in 1945 when the German concentration camp in occupied Poland was liberated by Soviet forces.
Von der Leyen called on the European Union to "remember the 6 million Jewish women, men and children, and all other victims, among them hundreds of thousands of Roma, murdered during the Holocaust."
The commission president said that remembering the Holocaust has "taken on a new meaning" after the terrorist attacks by Palestinian militant group Hamas.
"Jewish people are bullied, harassed, and attacked on the street, in school and university. Synagogues have been vandalized. Jewish cemeteries have been desecrated," she said.
"The unprecedented spike of anti-Semitic acts we have seen all over Europe reminds us of the darkest time of our history. What is different now, however, is that we all stand with the Jewish communities," the German said.
"There is no place for anti-Semitic hatred, especially here in Europe. And there is no justification for anti-Semitism," she added.
Since the October 7 attacks, there have already been well over 1,200 anti-Semitic offences in Germany, the head of Germany's domestic intelligence agency Thomas Haldenwang told reporters recently.
