Sir, – The recent claim by Russia's foreign minister Sergei Lavrov that Hitler had Jewish blood and that the most ardent anti-Semites are Jews is dangerous Holocaust distortion, made to justify Russia's depravity in Ukraine (World, May 2nd).
By casting Jews as Nazis, Mr Lavrov manages to blame Jews for Russia’s current illegal war, explaining that Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy’s Jewish identity, and the accusation that the regime in Ukraine is Nazi, are wholly compatible. Lavrov simultaneously lays the fate of the Jews in the Holocaust at their own feet, a classic anti-Semitic trope that portrays the Jew as the global enemy, unworthy even of his own private grief.
Equating Jews with Nazis is a well-worn image, usually promoted by left wing anti-Semites.
Russia has a long history of cultural anti-Semitism: pogrom, the word used to describe organised violence against Jews is a Russian word. The Protocols of the Elders of Zion, a forged document describing the plan for Jewish global domination came out of Russia in 1903, a document still beloved of conspiracy theorists and anti-Semites of every hue. Copies are still readily available for sale in many countries.
Mr Lavrov should be condemned internationally for his unconscionable ravings. But more importantly, he and the rest of Putin’s henchmen should be reminded that the West finds a way of extinguishing fascism in Europe and the future for those responsible for Russian aggression is unlikely to be bright. These must be the rules in a post-Holocaust world. – Yours, etc,
OLIVER SEARS,
Holocaust Awareness
Ireland,
Dublin 2.