The word “Juden” scrawled across a bagel shop window. It’s the kind of thing that hasn’t been seen in France since Nazi occupation in the 1940s. But somehow, horrifically, it’s back.
A slew of anti-Semitic actions have drawn fury out of France’s top officials, particularly Interior Minister Christophe Castaner. Among these acts, the defacing of a mural of former French Minister of Health and Holocaust survivor Simone Veil with swastikas, and the chopping down of a memorial tree planted in honor of a 23-year-old Jewish man beaten to death in 2006 by an anti-Jewish mob.
According to French authorities, there has been a 74% rise in anti-Semitic acts over the last year, a troubling statistic considering that France is home to the largest Jewish population outside of the US and Israel. Investigations have been launched into each of the recently-reported incidents, but no one has yet been found responsible.
