Disturbing slur to Jewish man on Melbourne street

A veteran Adelaide Jewish community leader has been confronted by another man on the street, and subject to vile abuse.

Veteran Adelaide Jewish community leader Norman Schueler has told of his horror at being verbally attacked by a man performing a Hitler salute and demanding the killing of all Jews.

Victorian police are investigating the incident, in which Mr Schueler alleges he was confronted on a Melbourne street by a man giving a Nazi salute, then saying: “We should have killed all the Jews, we will kill the f--king Jews.”

Speaking to the Sunday Mail, Mr Schueler said he was “absolutely staggered that could happen in a civilised society in the street”, which invoked memories of the Holocaust.

“I was horrified. It brought to life the images from members of one’s family – the people who experienced Kristallnacht and the stories they told when they left Germany,” he said.

This included Mr Schueler’s mother, who grew up in the shadow of Nuremberg’s Nazi parade ground and fled to England after hearing Adolf Hitler speak before he came to power in 1933.

Mr Schueler said he had been left traumatised and struggling to sleep by the incident, which happened on September 28 on Burke Rd, Camberwell, when he was visiting to celebrate the Jewish New Year.

Man accused of disturbing slur to Jewish man. Picture: Supplied

A Victoria Police spokesman confirmed that officers dealt with a man “causing trouble and being racist” on the afternoon of September 28 and investigations were continuing. Mr Schueler, who has headed a major Adelaide steel supply firm for almost 40 years, is immediate past chairman of the South Australian Multicultural and Ethnic Affairs Commission.

He is a long-serving past president of the SA Jewish Community Council, past National Australia Day Council member and a former Executive Council of Australian Jewry vice-president. Anti-Defamation Commission chairman Dr Dvir Abramovich said anti-Semitic sentiment was taking a firm hold in Australia and “hardcore bigots” were feeling too comfortable expressing their neo-Nazi views.

“This ugly episode, part of a broader pattern, could have ended in physical violence and not just verbal assault,” Dr Abramovich said.

“It may be an uncomfortable truth for some, but the reality is that the rising wave of hatred against Jews here is becoming commonplace.”

Originally published as Disturbing slur to Jewish man on Melbourne street