Vermont is better than this | Columnists | benningtonbanner.com – Bennington Banner
Posted By admin on October 31, 2021
November 9 marks the 83rd anniversary of Kristallnacht, The Night of Broken Glass.
On that night, Nazis and Nazi sympathizers raided synagogues, Jewish homes, and Jewish businesses throughout Germany, Austria, and the Sudetenland region of Czechoslovakia. They burned synagogues, desecrated holy texts, rounded up Jews and brought them to concentration camps, and smashed the windows of Jewish homes and businesses. Local officials were told to look the other way and let the terror happen. Ordinary citizens, who had been influenced by years of anti-Semitic propaganda, joined in the destruction and chaos, and terrorized Jews in their own communities.
Recently my local paper (Valley News) reported that someone had tagged swastikas and wrote pro-Nazi statements on The Temple monument at St. Gaudens National Historic Park in Cornish, N.H. This graffiti occurred less than a mile from Vermont soil. The hateful symbols and words were etched into Vermont marble.
According to the Anti Defamation Leagues website, there have been several anti-Semitic acts in and around Vermont in the last two years.
In September, a mural in Swanton Village was defaced with graffiti that police described as racist and anti-Semitic hate speech. Similar graffiti was reported days earlier near a local elementary school.
On July 13, 2020, an unknown person or group distributed fliers with anti-Semitic remarks. They were found in St. Albans near the office of a lawyer who is Jewish.
On April 29, 2020, the Essex County Democratic Committee candidate forum that was held via Zoom in Brattleboro was disrupted by unknown individuals who drew swastikas and insulted a Jewish candidate.
According to a Sept. 12 article in Medium.com, there has been a spike of anti-Semitic incidents at the University of Vermont. This includes a teaching assistant who instituted a discriminatory grading policy against Jewish students.
In December 2020 somebody shot out the lights of the Chabad menorah on the Dartmouth College green in Hanover, N.H., about one half mile from Vermont soil. This hate crime literally consisted of a night of broken glass.
These are just a sample of many more incidents that have happened in and close to the state that I call home.
These incidents are happening here in our communities. These acts of hate are being committed by our neighbors against our neighbors. Many of these events remain unsolved and the perpetrators have yet to be held accountable for their actions.
As we approach the 83rd anniversary of Kristallnacht, I ask you to consider the ramifications of hateful words and actions. I ask you to consider what happens when slogans of racial prejudice and religious intolerance are written on our monuments, spewed in our universities, and handed out on flyers. These messages embolden larger acts of violence. Hateful words lead to hateful actions and endanger our friends and neighbors.
The Vermont Holocaust Memorial (VTHM), a 501c3 nonprofit organization, founded in 2017 by three daughters of Holocaust survivors, offers speakers to your community who share their families lessons of survival against the largest atrocity that stemmed from anti-Semitism genocide.
By engaging and educating the community, VTHM envisions a time when prejudice, bigotry and hatred will be replaced with respect for all. VTHM is working with Vermont lawmakers and educators to bring about legislation creating Holocaust and genocide standards for our schools curriculum and plans to host an educators workshop in March. For more information, please visit VTHMs website at http://www.holocaustmemorial-vt.org.
Vermont can be better than this. We must clean up the graffiti and teach our children and our neighbors what tolerance and inclusiveness means. We should reach out to those who worship differently or speak a different language or come from a different place. We can be kind.
On the 83rd anniversary of Kristallnacht I ask you to take action to help repair the world in Judaism we call this tikkun olam. Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson said: If you see what needs to be repaired and how to repair it, then you have found a piece of the world that God has left for you to complete. But if you only see what is wrong and what is ugly in the world, then it is you yourself that needs repair. I ask you to look at your corner of the world, find something that needs repair, and then, take action toward fixing it. You can help move the world beyond hate and maybe together we can pick up the broken shards of glass.
K. Heidi Fishman, a psychologist, Vermont Holocaust Memorial board member, and author of Tuttis Promise, lives in Norwich, Vermont.
Read more:
Vermont is better than this | Columnists | benningtonbanner.com - Bennington Banner
- Anti-Defamation League reports dramatic rise in antisemitism - PBS NewsHour - March 25th, 2023
- Houston ranked among worst offenders for anti-Semitism - KTRK-TV - March 24th, 2023
- Anti-Semitism - Nazi anti-Semitism and the Holocaust | Britannica - February 7th, 2023
- Anti-Semitism | History, Facts, & Examples | Britannica - February 2nd, 2023
- Antisemitism - Wikipedia - February 2nd, 2023
- Origins and concept of anti-Semitism | Britannica - February 2nd, 2023
- Lizzy Savetsky exits RHONY reboot over anti-Semitism - January 6th, 2023
- Benjamin Netanyahu: Anti-Semitism Is The Oldest Disease, Given Extra ... - December 31st, 2022
- Governor Ron DeSantis Signs Anti-Semitism Protections Bill CS/CS/HB 741 - December 31st, 2022
- Kanye West: I've been 'beat to a pulp' amid anti-Semitism scandal - December 21st, 2022
- Don Lemon Critiques Dave Chappelle Monologue on SNL - December 21st, 2022
- Anti-Semitic incidents in US hit all-time high, according to new ADL ... - December 21st, 2022
- Dave Chappelle Sets Hair Aflame, Now Being Accused of Anti-Semitism ... - November 26th, 2022
- Between Kanye and the Midterms, the Unsettling Stream of Antisemitism - The New York Times - November 6th, 2022
- Kyrie Irving will begin suspension of at least 5 games Friday over antisemitism controversy. The NBA star has since apologized - CNN - November 6th, 2022
- New opinion poll illuminates growing challenges of polarization and ... - October 19th, 2022
- Meng, Fitzpatrick, Manning, Weber, Veasey, Granger, Lieu And Smith Call For Update From State Department On Its Investigation Into Instances Of... - October 19th, 2022
- Anti-Semitism and the Socialist Workers Party - World Socialist Web Site - WSWS - October 19th, 2022
- Where Kanye Wests brand deals stand amid anti-Semitism, WLM controversies - Page Six - October 19th, 2022
- Kanye West reaches out to Donald Trump amid anti-Semitic backlash - The News International - October 19th, 2022
- Partisan bias created a toxic media culture that tolerates anti-Semitism - JNS.org - October 19th, 2022
- CUNY Union President Blames White Christian Nationalism for Anti ... - October 1st, 2022
- Anselm Franke on the Future of documenta: Were witnessing old structures not wanting to die - Notes - E-Flux - October 1st, 2022
- Hill TV Segment on Rashida Tlaib and Israel Is Censored - The Intercept - October 1st, 2022
- The past echoes in the present: A review of Ken Burns' 'The U.S. and the Holocaust - Idaho Capital Sun - October 1st, 2022
- Toronto launches awareness campaign to combat anti-Semitism - September 18th, 2022
- Investigation underway into antisemitism at U of Vermont - The Associated Press - en Espaol - September 18th, 2022
- 'The number 6 million is impenetrable': Burns discusses new film, 'The U.S. and the Holocaust' New Hampshire Bulletin - New Hampshire Bulletin - September 9th, 2022
- Here's why conspiracy theories about Jeffrey Epstein keep flourishing - NPR - September 9th, 2022
- Ben & Jerry's will amend lawsuit against Unilever over Israel ice cream sale - Reuters.com - September 9th, 2022
- Will Viktor Orbn Bring His Racist Rhetoric to the United States this Week? - Center For American Progress - August 4th, 2022
- Macron decries anti-Semitism on 80th anniversary of Jewish deportations - Reuters.com - July 19th, 2022
- Former Oath Keeper reveals racist, antisemitic beliefs of white nationalist group and their plans to start a civil war - The Conversation Indonesia - July 14th, 2022
- What to Stream: The Sorrow and the Pity, a Historical Documentary That Transformed Frances National Identity - The New Yorker - July 14th, 2022
- 53 Percent Blame Fox News for Spread of Extremist Ideologies Like ... - July 8th, 2022
- Was the Patriot Front March in Boston a Sign of the New KKK? - Boston University - July 8th, 2022
- New UK-Led Initiative to Enhance Kentucky K-12 Holocaust Education - UKNow - June 4th, 2022
- No, Ann Coulter, I Am Not Responsible for the 'Great Replacement' Theory - The Atlantic - June 4th, 2022
- Statement from the Catholic Diocese of Cleveland and Lake Catholic High School May 25, 2022 - Catholic Diocese of Cleveland - May 27th, 2022
- Slavery, Anti-Semitism and Harvards Missing Moral Compass - The Wall Street Journal - May 20th, 2022
- The Intersectionality of Hate - The Atlantic - May 20th, 2022
- Philadelphias Jewish history museum reopens after bankruptcy and a 2-year shutdown - The Philadelphia Inquirer - May 20th, 2022
- Israel Observes Holocaust Remembrance Day Amid a Global Rise of Anti ... - May 8th, 2022
- Governor Abbott Appoints Parker, Names Goldberg Chair Of Texas Holocaust, Genocide, And Anti-Semitism Advisory Commission - Office of the Texas... - April 30th, 2022
- University of Maryland's Anti-Semitism Task Force Chief ... - April 27th, 2022
- Rabbi Calls for Education and Leadership to Combat Hate Crimes in New Jersey - wbgo.org - April 18th, 2022
- Are Global Autocracies Here to Stay? - Northeastern University - April 18th, 2022
- The return of the anti-Dreyfusards is possible - The Hindu - April 18th, 2022
- Learning from the past to effectively fight anti-Semitism today - Al Jazeera English - March 16th, 2022
- Russia-Ukraine: Ugly truths in the time of war - Al Jazeera English - March 16th, 2022
- Ukraine's Only Woman Rabbi Among the Many Jews Fleeing War - Voice of America - VOA News - March 16th, 2022
- The law-flouting, truth-denying, science-deriding Trumpian Republican extremists are the real RINOs - Ohio Capital Journal - March 16th, 2022
- Colleyville hostage scene triggers calls for action ... - February 21st, 2022
- Colleyville Neighborhood Wakes Up to Flyers with Hate-filled Messages Tossed onto Lawns - NBC 5 Dallas-Fort Worth - February 21st, 2022
- Envisioning Justice: The Campus Voice This Week With Speakers and Workshops - University of Arkansas Newswire - February 21st, 2022
- Rosen, Texas Senators Lead and Pass Bipartisan Resolution Condemning Antisemitic Attack on Congregation Beth Israel - Jacky Rosen - February 19th, 2022
- 'It's part of a larger pattern': Texas synagogue hostage ... - January 20th, 2022
- Was Luther Anti-Semitic? | Christian History ... - January 20th, 2022
- Why So Many People Still Don't Understand Anti-Semitism - The Atlantic - January 20th, 2022
- Documenta Responds to Allegations of Anti-Semitic Connections to BDS Movement - ARTnews - January 20th, 2022
- Rep. Houlahan: My father survived the Holocaust by a miracle. It shouldnt take a miracle to be Jewish and alive. | Opinion - The Philadelphia Inquirer - January 20th, 2022
- Governor Abbott Appoints Five to the Texas Holocaust, Genocide and Anti-Semitism Advisory Commission - Office of the Texas Governor - January 9th, 2022
- Condemning anti-semitism, governor and Jewish leaders ... - January 4th, 2022
- Helena's Jewish community is raising funds to buy the state's oldest synagogue - MTPR - January 4th, 2022
- Jordanian TV rejects German stations anti-Semitism accusation - January 1st, 2022
- Poland is the land of anti-Semitism - January 1st, 2022
- Was Martin Luther Guilty of Anti-Semitism? - December 22nd, 2021
- Is Donald Trump an Anti-Semite? - The New Yorker - December 22nd, 2021
- 'It's trivializing the lives who so greatly suffered': Outrage continues after Holocaust imagery used in anti-mandate rally - CTV News Atlantic - December 22nd, 2021
- Trump Goes Full Anti-Semite, Unloads on American Jews in Wildly Bigoted Rant - Vanity Fair - December 18th, 2021
- Changing How You Spell 'Anti-Semitism' Won't Stop Anti-Semitism - The Atlantic - December 16th, 2021
- Dutch MP found guilty of creating a breeding ground for anti-Semitism - POLITICO Europe - December 16th, 2021
- Danvers High School Dealing With Another Investigation After Swastika Found in Bathroom - NBC10 Boston - December 16th, 2021
- Joint Communication to the European Parliament, the Council, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions - Renewed... - November 30th, 2021
- An Archive Traces the History of Anti-Semitism Across Europe - Hyperallergic - November 23rd, 2021
- Azeem Rafiq's anti-Semitism does not undermine his claim that cricket is racist - it just proves he is part of the problem - Telegraph.co.uk - November 23rd, 2021
- Darlings of the freedom movement must denounce the anti-Semites in their wings - The Sydney Morning Herald - November 23rd, 2021
- Allegations of bigotry and calls for impeachment rock College Democrats - Politico - November 23rd, 2021
- Holocaust In The Middle East: From Morocco To Iraq - HistoryExtra - BBC History Magazine - November 23rd, 2021
- If only the SNP shared Keir Starmer's determination to root out anti-Semitism - Telegraph.co.uk - November 23rd, 2021
Comments