Today we visited the memorial at the former site of Dachau Concentration Camp and the Munich Documentation Center for National Socialism. What strikes me the most is how so many similarities can be seen between what occurred in the years leading up to the Holocaust and what is happening in the present day. It feels as though we have not progressed as a society, but rather regressed. We can see how the demonization and isolation of Jews from the rest of society occurred over a period of time and not all of a sudden.
Today, we see targeting of and efforts to isolate the Jewish community in an insidious manner which in many cases is left unchecked. This highlights the importance of shutting down antisemitism as soon as it is spotted because when it is not challenged, this type of rhetoric and incitement becomes normalized. This in turn leads to escalation of violence and justification of any wrongdoing on the part of the perpetrator. There should be no tolerance for intolerance.