Urgent lessons from Kristallnacht’s history after Amsterdam’s pogrom - opinion

Jews were rammed by cars, then beaten and kicked on city streets; others were chased and forced to jump into freezing rivers to escape. 

Masked Arab gangs, armed with knives, stationed themselves at the exits of the football stadium where Maccabi Tel Aviv and the local Dutch team Ajax concluded a match, then proceeded to hunt Jews. 

In hopes of protecting himself, one man cried, “I’m not Jewish,” before being punched in the face. 

These were scenes from a pogrom in Amsterdam, a city once known as “Dutch Jerusalem,” this past week. 

This night of terror struck two days before history remembers what happened 86 years ago on Kristallnacht – the night of broken glass – a marker in the sequence of events that led to the Holocaust. Pogroms, then the Holocaust, demolished Dutch Jerusalem – wiping out 75% of its populace–and annihilating vibrant Jewish communities across Europe. 

This is not the first time when what seems like ancient history reverberates in modern times. 

It would be remiss to commemorate the night of broken glass without reflecting on what led to such a catastrophe and how to ensure Jewish safety in its aftermath. 

Events that resemble Kristallnacht have been commonplace since October 7, when Hamas’s terror attacks on Israel unleashed tsunamis of Jew-hatred around the world. 

Incidents such as pro-Hamas mobs shouting a slew of antisemitic slurs outside Sydney’s Opera House in Australia or the stabbing of a Jewish woman in her home in Lyon, France, may already be fading from memory, drowned out by their frequency.

In the words of great historian Will Durant, the author of The Lessons of History, “We are choked with news and starved of history.”

The parallels between 20th-century Europe and today are striking – yet it is essential to recognize the key distinctions, despite the unsettling similarities, as they help us understand present-day threats and shape our responses to ensure Jewish safety and uphold a rules-based world order. 

Notable differences include the existence of Israel – which dispatched planes to evacuate Israelis from Amsterdam – and a global sensitivity to antisemitism heightened by the Holocaust and October 7.

The most critical difference, from which we can derive actionable policy insights, is between state-sanctioned antisemitism and what former Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz has termed “the harsh reality of imported antisemitism” – referencing well-intentioned but destabilizing immigration policies that have allowed unchecked Middle Eastern migration into Europe. 

Recognizing both similarities and differences between the present and the past can better drive policy decisions.

The situation for German Jews in the Weimar Republic and across Europe worsened when racialized Jew-hatred became intellectualized and moralized within education and politics. 

In the democratic Weimar Republic, antisemites found a platform to voice their gripes against Jews via national socialism. 

In modern-day 

Today in the free world, many antizionists are turning to “progressive” politics and far-left academia, which has established a vehicle for them to fuel outrage against the Jewish state. 

WHILE ACADEMIA under the Nazi reign was controlled by the state, currently, curriculum remains largely independent.

In the United States, bodies of government like the Education and Workforce Committee have been working to expose Jew-hatred and hold its perpetrators and enablers accountable.

Yet, those university administrators, professors, policymakers, and observers who fail to recognize the threat or seek to perpetuate a pipeline of hate – whether through the flow of money or orchestrated indoctrination efforts – veil antisemitic, radicalized, and fabricated curriculum as ‘academic freedom’ and selectively enforce parameters of free speech.

For instance, the University of Pennsylvania allowed the Palestine Writes Festival, with historically antisemitic speakers like Roger Waters and Mohammed el-Kurd, to take place while suspending tenured law professor Amy Wax for making ‘offensive’ comments. 

Many Western governments today uphold democratic and liberal values – far removed from the state-sanctioned antisemitism seen under Nazi rule. 

The risks of radical Islamic terrorism 

While Kristallnacht occurred under Hitler’s regime, the recent pogrom in Amsterdam unfolded under a government that is acutely aware of the risks posed by radical Islamic terrorism and has vowed to tighten immigration policies. 

While in Nazi Germany, the police helped orchestrate the pogrom, in the Netherlands, the police were on notice but failed to act. 

Public opinion, though influential, does not equate to state-sponsored antisemitism. However, the history that drove the transition from the Weimar Republic to Nazi Germany – which could not have been done without orchestrated political campaigns and indoctrination in the German education system – demonstrates how public sentiment can drive dangerous policies if left unchecked.

State-sanctioned, legalized antisemitism, and imported antisemitism are distinct, but their outcomes can be equally destructive. 

Allowing extremist ideologies to infiltrate our societies – through education and media – poses a grave risk because states that promote terror against Jews and the free world are encouraging terror around the world. 

We have already witnessed non-state actors like Hezbollah, a proxy of the Iranian regime, carry out attacks in the West like the thwarted terror plot on Jewish sites in Brazil. 

Given these threats, it is crucial for government officials responsible for addressing antisemitism, immigration, and terrorism to collaborate nationally and internationally. 

They must strengthen policies in response to the surge in antisemitism following the October 7 attacks, as both domestic extremists and foreign terrorist organizations orchestrate violence to advance their jihadist agenda.

Together, they should focus on identifying and addressing the root causes of Jewish hatred, consisting of the indoctrination of students with illiberal curriculums and censorship of opposing ideas. 

The danger lies in the rise of radicalism, particularly the convergence of radical Islam and far-left “progressive” politics.

The danger of legitimizing pro-terror ideas with the rhetoric of ‘liberation’ inevitably leads to the demonization and violent persecution of Jews.

Durant once remarked, “Civilization begins with order, grows with liberty, and dies with chaos.” 

We have entered an era of chaos, and while we may yearn for liberty, history teaches us that “when liberty becomes license [for chaos and using the law at one’s discretion], dictatorship is near.”

The rule of law, coupled with foresight and the commitment of governments to combat radical ideologies, terrorism, and antisemitism, has opened a window of opportunity to turn back the tide of a chaotic world. 

Today, maintaining stable order is crucial to preserving liberty. The pogrom in Amsterdam should serve as a wake-up call and a mandate for action.

The writer is a senior at George Washington University.