Next month’s 70th anniversary of the liberation of the Auschwitz death camp is a reminder, at a time when anti-Semitism is on the rise again, of what happens when the world stays silent about persecution, the president of the World Jewish Congress has said.

Ronald S. Lauder told Reuters in an interview that anti-Semitism had reached levels not seen since World War II, driven by Islamist extremists using hatred of Jews as a way to attack Israel, and by far-right nationalists in Europe.

He said the commemorations on January 27 to mark the day Soviet troops liberated Auschwitz in 1945 would be the last major anniversary when survivors would be able to attend in numbers. The youngest are now in their 70s.

“I believe it is a good reminder to people of what happens when we remain silent. The world was silent when Hitler was starting, the world was silent when Jews were taken away, the world was silent at Kristallnacht and in many ways, although many people knew what was happening in the concentration camps, it was not publicised,” Lauder said.

The last time survivors will be able to attend commemorations

“After World War II, into the 50s, 60s and 70s, the type of anti-Semitism we see today, nobody would ever have thought of happening. But time has gone on and generations have passed.

“Hopefully this commemoration of the 70th anniversary of the freeing of Auschwitz, and the ceremonies that will take place, may remind the world what happens when anti-Semitism is allowed to run wild, so to speak.”

Ronald S. Lauder, president of the World Jewish Congress, says the anniversary serves as a good reminder. Photo: Fabrizio Bensch/Reuters

At the Auschwitz camp the Nazis killed some 1.5 million people between 1940 and 1945.

Lauder, who has helped fund conservation efforts to preserve artefacts at Auschwitz including inmates’ hair and shoes, said the World Jewish Congress would this year bring about 100 survivors and their families to Poland to take part in the commemorations.

He said Hungary, where the far-right Jobbik party is now the second biggest political force, was one example of a European country where a political party was fanning anti-Semitism.

“The government will talk about ‘There is no place for anti-Semitism in the world’, but that is not necessarily speeches being made inside Hungary,” Lauder said.

“There is a total disconnect between what they say for external consumption and internal consumption.”

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban has called anti-Semitism intolerable and says his government is a determined participant in the fight against it. Jobbik’s leaders deny being anti-Semitic.