Walter Bingham, a 101-year-old survivor of Kristallnacht, says the recent rise in antisemitism feels "equivalent to 1938." He highlighted violent attacks in Manchester and Melbourne and pointed to ADL data showing 9,354 antisemitic incidents in the U.S. in 2024, a sharp increase over recent years. Bingham contrasted the prewar Jewish community’s conciliatory stance with today’s resilience, noting that the State of Israel makes a repeat Holocaust unlikely, though prejudice persists.
101-Year-Old Kristallnacht Survivor Warns Rising Antisemitism Feels “Equivalent to 1938”
Walter Bingham, a 101-year-old survivor of Kristallnacht, says the recent rise in antisemitism feels "equivalent to 1938." He highlighted violent attacks in Manchester and Melbourne and pointed to ADL data showing 9,354 antisemitic incidents in the U.S. in 2024, a sharp increase over recent years. Bingham contrasted the prewar Jewish community’s conciliatory stance with today’s resilience, noting that the State of Israel makes a repeat Holocaust unlikely, though prejudice persists.
09:09 AM, 11/10/2025Society
Survivor of Kristallnacht says today's surge in antisemitism evokes prewar Germany
On the anniversary of Kristallnacht, 101-year-old Walter Bingham — who was 14 when Nazi-led rioters smashed windows, attacked synagogues and homes, and terrorized Jewish communities — warned that recent attacks and growing antisemitism make the present feel alarmingly close to 1938.
Historians and the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum record that during the "Night of Broken Glass," more than 1,400 synagogues were burned, thousands of Jewish-owned businesses were vandalized, Jewish apartments were raided and religious objects desecrated. Approximately 26,000 Jewish men were arrested and sent to concentration camps.
"We live in an era equivalent to 1938, where synagogues are burned, and people in the street are attacked," Bingham told The Associated Press.
Bingham pointed to recent violent incidents that have targeted Jewish communities abroad, including an October attack at the Heaton Park Hebrew Congregation in Manchester — where a man drove a vehicle into worshippers and later stabbed victims, killing two Jewish men — and a synagogue arson in Melbourne last year that was condemned by Australia’s prime minister as antisemitic.
Rising incident statistics
Data from the Anti-Defamation League show 9,354 antisemitic incidents in the United States in 2024 — a 5% increase from 2023, a 344% increase over the past five years, and an 893% increase compared with a decade earlier — underscoring a sharp, sustained rise in reported incidents.
Bingham reflected on both the parallels and the differences between today and the prewar period. "Antisemitism, I don’t think, will ever fully disappear because it’s the panacea for all ills of the world," he said, recalling that many Jews before World War II adopted a conciliatory attitude: "In those days, the Jewish mentality was apologetic. Please don’t do anything to me, I won’t do anything to you."
He noted one major distinction today: the existence of the State of Israel. "Today, we have, thank God, the state of Israel, a very strong state," Bingham said. "And whereas antisemitism is still on the increase, the one thing that will not happen would be a Holocaust, because the state will see to it that it does not recur."
Reporting and data referenced include The Associated Press, the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum and the Anti-Defamation League.