For NJ Holocaust survivors, horrors of Hamas attack revive old trauma: 'I am frightened'

When images emerged from Israel showing Hamas attackers storming the country on Oct. 7, memories of terror returned for Holocaust survivors like Fran.

"It absolutely reminded me of what I went through," said the 85-year-old, who lives in Essex County.

The images from Israel, and reports of rising antisemitism around the globe, have been so disturbing for Fran that she requested her last name not be used in this article, out of fear of reprisals.

She was a child in Poland when the Nazis came to power. In June 1941, they invaded her hometown of Sokal, a city now part of Ukraine. The Nazis rounded up her father and other men, took them to the outskirts of town and shot them dead. The remaining men, women and children were transported to a ghetto and eventually sent to the Belzec concentration camp, where they were killed in gas chambers.

Fran was saved by a kind Christian family who hid her and several other Jews.

"What happened in Israel — and the antisemitic attacks around the world — is the same old antisemitism that we had then," she said of the Oct. 7 Hamas attacks, which killed 1,400 people. "I've seen a lot of other wars since then. But this was Nazi cruelty all over again."

The Holocaust, known as the Shoah in Hebrew, refers to the systematic genocide of more than 6 million European Jews during World War II by the Nazis and their collaborators. The slaughter is embedded deep in the consciousness of the global Jewish community. Photos and videos from Israel have triggered painful memories, with some victims burnt to death or shot point blank, according to Israeli officials. The dead included babies, elderly victims and teenagers murdered at a rock concert.

"Not since the Holocaust have so many Jews been killed on one day," said Israeli President Isaac Herzog. In addition to those slain, more than 200 were taken captive and scores more were wounded.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said at a Tel Aviv news conference that the Hamas pogrom had "harrowing echoes" of the Holocaust and noted that his own family members survived concentration camps in Europe.

Israel-Hamas war triggers rise in hate crimes

Reports of hate crimes against Jews and Muslims have climbed since the start of the conflict, which has left thousands dead on both sides. In Russia last weekend, a mob stormed an airport trying to stop a plane from arriving from Tel Aviv. In Berlin, vandals hurled Molotov cocktails at a synagogue and scrawled the Star of David on the doors of Jewish homes.

Ilyse Shainbrown, the director of Holocaust education for the Jewish Federation of Greater MetroWest in Whippany, has fielded calls from dozens of survivors and their children in the past three weeks who are "traumatized and concerned and want their voices heard," she said.

"They want to feel empowered to not let this happen again. We always say 'Never again.' But never again is now. This was so similar to the Holocaust because people were targeted simply for being Jewish."

Her organization, based in Morris County, helps survivors obtain therapeutic services and offers a place to come together for comfort and support. "There needs to be an understanding of what survivors are going through now," she said.

Gail Belfer, director of holocaust survivor services and advocacy at Jewish Family & Children's Service in Cherry Hill, said the violence was "triggering for the Holocaust survivors in our community. We provided remote support groups for our Holocaust survivors following the attack. They came together to express their fear, sorrow and anger and to receive and give support."

"They are frightened by the surge of antisemitism and what the future will bring," she said. "They are continually being re-traumatized by watching the news."

Among their projects, she said, was penning a letter to the Israeli army in which they wrote: "We are witnessing our second Holocaust.... In every generation someone has tried to destroy us, but they did not succeed. We survived and thrived.... We know that you will triumph against Hamas and their collaborators. We have already done it and you will too."

The incidents have also impacted younger generations. Steve Fox of Teaneck, a son of a Holocaust survivor − his grandparents, aunt and cousin were killed − said that recent events have been reminiscent of what occurred in Europe decades ago.

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"I grew up trying to understand how the world let the Holocaust happen," he said. "Seeing Jewish hate proliferating around the world is disheartening and scary."

Holocaust Survivor Felice Zimmer Stokes of Teaneck, 84, said that when she heard what happened in Israel and observed rising antisemitism around the world, she said, "`Here we go again.' Antisemitism is on the rise. But this isn't new. We've always been persecuted."

She was a young child when her parents were rounded up and deported to the concentration camp at Auschwitz, where they were killed. That experience made it even more painful for her to hear about the recent Hamas attacks in which many young children were left without parents.

"Anything that reminds me of the loss of my parents is difficult," she said.

Lola Kline of Freehold grew up in Poland and relatives on both sides of her family were murdered in the Holocaust. She was saved by a Catholic family who adopted her. She said she's appalled by anti-Jewish hate in America and by students at Ivy League colleges who support Hamas.

"What kind of education are they getting at Harvard and Yale if they don't know the difference between Palestinians and Hamas?" she said. "I have seen antisemitism my entire life but now I am frightened. Holocaust survivors are all frightened. We lived through this as children. This is a repeat of our history."

Fran said Israel must defend itself against its enemies.

"Jews have been kicked out of every other country and now we finally have our own ancestral homeland," she said. "Israel has to survive. We have no other place to go."

This article contains material from USA Today and the Associated Press.

Deena Yellin covers religion for NorthJersey.com. For unlimited access to her work covering how the spiritual intersects with our daily lives, please subscribe or activate your digital account today.

Email: yellin@northjersey.com

This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: NJ Holocaust survivors say Israel-Hamas war revives old trauma