Concerns over rising Antisemitism raised at Holocaust commemoration in Amsterdam

The Holocaust was commemorated in Amsterdam on Sunday with a silent march, a ceremony and the laying of wreaths in Wertheimpark. During the ceremony, several speakers raised concerns about increasing anti-Semitism in the Netherlands and the world, NOS reports.

During his speech, Prime Minister Mark Rutte said that "contemporary anti-Semitism still makes people anxious". He referred to the windows of a Kosher restaurant in Amsterdam being broken in December. "It is in the doors of the restaurant that are locked, in the button under the counter with which [the owner] lets his guests in."

Jacques Grishaver, chairman of the Dutch Auschwitz Committee, also spoke about increasing anti-Semitism. "We are confronted with it almost daily, via social media and on the street." An easy place to spot it, is on the side of football fields. "And not only do you hear anti-Semitic slogans there, we also see Nazi symbols and Jewish meetings", he said. According to Grishaver, the Holocaust is also increasingly being denied worldwide. "That is nothing more than genuine anti-Semitism."

Prime Minister Rutte and State Secretary Paul Blokhuis of Public Health, Welfare and Sports, put down a wreath at the Spiegelmonument on behalf of the Dutch government. Many others also left flowers at the monument. The commemoration for the millions of Jewish, Roma and Sinti people who died in extermination camps during the Second World War was concluded with a parade along the monument, led by the Prime Minister.