Buffalo, N.Y. (WBEN) - "In part, we're shocked at the scope and scale of the protests and the calls for Jewish blood," admitted Rob Goldberg, CEO of the Buffalo Jewish Federation during an in-studio interview with WBEN on Wednesday.
Goldberg said the Oct. 7 attack on Israel by Hamas has resulted in unprecedented antisemitism, in ways, he added, that have never been seen before.
"We've had issues at Sweet Home High School and Amherst High School and the Williamsville School district where Jewish kids are being harassed for what they're wearing. There is fear, which we have not seen in decades, among young people, and people in our own community, afraid for their lives
because of these calls to kill more Jews."
A junior at Cornell University was arrested this week and charged in connection with a series of antisemitic threats made against the school's Jewish community. "There were posters displayed in the student union
calling for individuals to knife, and murder and spill Jewish blood on campus," noted Goldberg. "It's something we are really stunned by and concerned about."
He said there is great disappointment, rather than shock, over silence from many people who choose not to speak out about it.
"It's disappointing. It's been hurtful I have to admit. But we choose to look at the positive. We are so fortunate with our elected officials. Governor Hochul has been very strong about anti-hate. We've heard from Christian leaders across the board. That has been encouraging."
Goldberg said to the Jewish community right now, it feels very much like pre-war Germany.
"Next Thursday, Nov. 9 is the anniversary of Kristallnacht, which marked the beginning of the brutality and the physical terrorism of Jews in 1938," preceding the Holocaust. Before that, he said, the Nuremberg Laws
prevented Jews from teaching at universities. They couldn't work in hospitals, and they had to wear yellow stars.
"The physical brutality really began in 1938 on November 9th and we're coming up on the 85th anniversary of that. Synagogues were burned. Jewish books and torah scrolls were burned. Jewish men were abducted and taken to concentration camps." Goldberg lamented, "It was a terrifying day for Jews and it feels a little bit like that now."