Holocaust survivors warn that threats and harassment are destabilising Jewish communities

Two Holocaust survivors are using their experiences to advise terrified Australians, some of whom have been choosing not to go out for fear of being attacked, to stay calm amid growing resentment.

Holocaust survivors have warned that threats and harassment are leading Australian Jews to hide their religion, cautioning that the rise in anti-Semitism is destabilising communities.

Jewish group across NSW have been grappling with an increase in hate speech, vandalism, harassment and threats since Hamas’s 7 October attack on Israel and the following war in Gaza, prompting Jews to “hide their Jewishness.”

Holocaust survivor Eddy Boas, 85, has been advising terrified Australians, some of whom have been choosing not to go out for fear of being attacked, to stay calm in the face of growing resentment.

Mr Boas, who was three years old when his family was deported from The Hague to Westerbork concentration camp in the German-occupied Netherlands and later sent to Bergen-Belsen main Star Camp for 14 months along with 6,000 prisoners, has been consoling a young family in Bondi who have told their two sons, aged six and eight, not to reveal they are Jewish because they “will get targeted.”

“The young couple are scared and have been hiding their Jewishness - I’m 85 years old and I’ve been in a concentration camp and spent 14 months in Bergen-Belsen and know what anti-Semitism is in the worst possible way,” said Mr Boas, who emigrated to Australia with his family in 1964, aged 14.

“I tell my friends who are younger than me, that as a Jew you can’t get upset every time someone says something stupid about Jews you’d be upset a lot, so you have to learn to ignore those statements.

“Non Jewish families are coming to me telling me their Jewish friends are petrified.

Holocaust survivor Eddy Boas, 85, is consoling young Jewish parents who has ordered their two sons, aged six and eight, not to reveal they're Jewish for fear of reprisals. Photo Jeremy Piper

“The younger generation under the age of 40 don’t know how to handle anti-Semitism – they don’t have experience in this, they feel rocked by it.

“I have lived in Australia since I was 14 and have never experienced anti-Semitism in my life since October 7. I blame the federal government for being weak and not kicking it in the butt in the first place.

“The Jewish community used to be pro Labor, a lot of them are turning away now because they feel Anthony Albanese isn’t doing enough.

“It’s too late now to change what’s happening, these angry marches in the CBD with people waving Palestine flags every weekend, people join them, and they go to their meetings and then, unconsciously or not, they become anti-Semites.

Holocaust survivor Eddy Boas is using his personal experiences to advise terrified Jews in Sydney to keep calm. Photo Jeremy Piper

“I am telling the young Jewish family in Bondi not to be afraid of their religion, not to make their children frightened or to hide their Jewishness. They’re worried that of they tell anyone they’re Jews they will attack them or target where they live,” he said.

“I tell them a swastika on the wall, it’s not nice, but it doesn’t hurt you personally, let it go.

“The statistics speak of a rise of hundreds of percentages in Australia and all over Europe,” he added.

Other precautions some people were taking included removing the mezuzah from front doors and not wearing the traditional kippah in the street when they go into Ubers and not speaking Hebrew, Mr Boas said.

The Australian Council of Australian Jewry have pointed to a dramatic increase in incidents since October documenting a 316 per cent since October 7, with 2062 incidents reported in the year ending September, compared with the previous year’s 495.

Holocaust survivor Ernie Friedlander, 89, has been regularly holding “keep calm sessions” for fearful Jews in Sydney. Picture: Julian Andrews

The Australian Council of Australian Jewry have pointed to a dramatic increase in incidents since October documenting a 316 per cent since October 7, with 2062 incidents reported in the year ending September, compared with the previous year’s 495.

Holocaust survivor Ernie Friedlander, 89, has been holding “keep calm sessions” and advising fearful Jews in Sydney not to react to every time a swastika is daubed on a school or home.

His daughter, a 51-year-old hairdresser and mother of two, has been feeling fearful living in Sydney.

“I’ve told her not to overreact, I know what it’s like to be spat at and picked on, you have to let it go otherwise you get stuck in fear and can’t move on with your life,” said Ernie, 89, who lives in Maroubra.

Holocaust survivor Ernie Friedlander, 89, says he knows what it feels like to be spat on and targeted. Picture: Sam Ruttyn

“I speak to people every week, I tell them to fight the dark with light - I running impromptu keep calm sessions, almost every week someone tells me they’re hiding their identities and are scared of being Jewish,” he said.

“They all love Australia but are scared to live here”.

Last week marked a significant up turn in the wave of anti-Semitic vandalism and arson attacks across Sydney when police discovered a caravan in Dural packed with enough explosives to cause a “potential mass casualty event”, but no detonator. There was a list of Jewish sites and a note with the words: “F**k the Jews.”

Eleven people have been charged under Strike Force Pearl, established to investigate hate crimes across Sydney, including one man charged on Friday evening with allegedly defacing a wall with Nazi symbols.

None have been charged in connection with the caravan.

Over the weekend cars, homes and garages in Kingsford in Sydney’s east were defaced with anti-Semitic graffiti, with police also hunting three young men who threw eggs at a group of women near Bondi Beach.

Anti-Semitic graffiti was also found at Sydney Jewish School Mt Sinai Collage in Maroubra.

Originally published as Holocaust survivors warn that threats and harassment are destabilising Jewish communities