Op-Ed: David Lega: The face of modern anti-Semitism, from Kristallnacht to today’s Europe

David Lega, a former Member of European Parliament, writes about the problems with anti-Semitism that are plaguing Europe, including his native Sweden.

On November 9, 1938, Europe experienced one of its darkest nights. Kristallnacht — the name refers to the shattered glass from thousands of Jewish shops, homes, and synagogues — was not just a night of destruction but one that filled Jewish Europe with collective terror. Synagogues were burned to the ground while firefighters and police stood by and watched. People were dragged from their homes, beaten, and humiliated in public.

Jewish families who had contributed to Europe’s cultural, intellectual, and economic life for generations saw their world collapse. The fear, the foreboding of what was to come, left deep scars. This marked the beginning of an assault on the very existence of Jewish life in Europe.

Understanding this aspect of the Holocaust is crucial. Concentration camps were one tool in Hitler’s plan, but the goal was far greater — to erase Jewish presence, history, and culture from European cities. Today, as we see Jews in Malmö and other places in Sweden feeling unsafe and choosing to move away, it echoes this strategy. It is a modern form of the historical erasure that leaders annually vow never to let happen again.

Today, 86 years later, we live in a time when anti-Semitism is once again taking hold in our societies. In Malmö, a city long seen as a symbol of diversity and openness, Jews today experience an anxiety that cannot be ignored. After October 7, 2023, when Hamas launched its brutal attack on Israel, we witnessed a rapid surge in anti-Semitic expressions, not only globally but also on our streets.

Recently, Israeli football fans were attacked in Amsterdam in an event described as a “modern pogrom.” This underscores that anti-Semitism remains a harsh reality in Europe. The difference now is that Israel can fly its citizens to safety. This highlights the world’s obligation not just to fight anti-Semitism but to support Israel, so the country can continue to protect Jews worldwide when the world fails. Israel is the guarantee that the promise of “never again” remains true.

For Jewish families in Malmö, it is about living their lives without fear. It is about attending synagogue without looking over their shoulders, about letting their children grow up in a society where they can be proud of their identity without fearing for their safety. We see signs of the same unease that characterized Jewish communities in Europe before Kristallnacht. That sense that something could happen, that hate could strike at any moment, is a chilling reminder of past events.

This must never happen again. It is a statement that leaders repeat every year but one that requires action to be meaningful. Malmö must act now and take its Jewish residents’ concerns seriously. If we watch passively while anti-Semitism festers, we allow history to repeat itself. We cannot let Jewish families feel compelled to leave the city to find safety elsewhere. Every Jewish family that leaves Malmö takes with them a part of the city’s soul, its history, and its cultural heritage.

The government, too, has a responsibility to ensure that Jewish life can continue to flourish in Sweden. Next year marks 250 years of Jewish life in our country — a time during which Jewish communities have tirelessly contributed to our shared prosperity and culture. We must act now to ensure we not only celebrate the past but build a future where, 250 years from now, we can look back with pride at how we took a stand. The government must provide resources for security, enhance education on anti-Semitism, and stand up consistently against hate.

Understanding Kristallnacht is not just about comprehending the deep fear and despair that Jews felt that night and during the dark years that followed. It is also about understanding the mechanisms by which a society can turn against its own citizens, how ordinary people can be drawn to participate in or ignore atrocities. The collective dehumanization that allowed neighbors to turn on each other, authorities to abandon their responsibilities, and violence to prevail is a warning that echoes through history.

Today, we must see this warning not as something distant but as highly relevant for Malmö, Sweden, and Europe. We see how anti-Semitism is taking hold again, sometimes as overt attacks and other times as the subtle normalization of prejudice and hate speech. In Malmö, this means that Jewish residents hesitate to wear visible symbols like the kippah or the Star of David, look over their shoulders on the streets, and worry about their children’s future. In Sweden and Europe, we see similar signs — a troubling trend where hate infiltrates our everyday lives, spreads through social media, and is downplayed or dismissed.

We must fight this hate with all we have. This means not just legislation and police action but also a cultural and social battle to promote understanding, respect, and empathy. We must actively work to build a society where hate finds no ground to grow and where we all take responsibility for standing against the forces that threaten our shared safety. Malmö, Sweden, and Europe have a choice to make: to learn from history and ensure that darkness never takes hold again, or to risk that the small steps we overlook today lead to great tragedies tomorrow.

David Lega is a senior advisor for the European Jewish Association (EJA) and a former member of the European Parliament.