The Jewish community organized its annual commemoration at the end of the Second World War, which took place 80 years ago in Antwerp on Thursday.
Bart de Wever was present for the first time not as a bourgmestre of the metropolis, but as Prime Minister. He again warned against the rise of anti -Semitism, saying that “Images of the Middle East are used badly to assimilate the Jewish people to evil“.
“The crawling poison of anti -Semitism has never completely disappeared, but it is up in recent years, especially after the horrible terrorist acts of October 7, 2023.“
Bart de Wever did not speak more on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. He focused his speech on the horror of the holocaust, on the duty of memory to continue to learn from it and on the security of the Jewish community in the context of the threat of anti -Semitism.
Hamas attacks on October 7, 2023 were briefly mentioned, but what happened then was not mentioned. “”I would like to emphasize again that the security of the Jewish community of Antwerp, and now also of the rest of the country, remains an absolute priority“Said Bart de Wever.
The Prime Minister also mentioned Antwerp’s achievements in the field of memory education, as a permanent exhibition at the Mas museum and educational modules for schools.
Bart de Wever also underlined the work of Segesoma, the Center for the War Study and Society of State Archives. Under the direction of historian Nico Wouters, she conducted a study on the way the SNCB had organized convoys to the Nazi death camps.
