In the first demonstration of its kind, Greek Jews have taken to the streets to protest a surge of racism and anti-Semitism in Germany.
Holding candles and wearing buttons reading “Never again,” 1,500 Jews gathered Wednesday outside the German embassy in Athens to hear communal leader Nissim Mais call on Bonn to combat the “horrifying and dangerous situation which is once more quite openly created in Germany.”
A five-member delegation handed a copy of the declaration to Ambassador Leopold von Bredow who, to everyone’s surprise, put on a “Never again” button himself.
“The vast majority of Germans are opposed to what is happening today in my country,” said von Bredow.
“The Jews are the one people who legitimately must remind Germany about Nazism every time it rises,” he said. “Allow me to shout with you: `Never again.'”
Greece’s 5,500 Jews live in the shadow of the 77,000-member community who lived here before the Nazi occupation. Over 85 percent of them perished in the death camps. Of the fewer than 10,000 who survived, about half emigrated to Israel, the United States, Australia and Canada.
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