The Czech Jewish community strongly condemned the use of yellow stars by protesters during a march against the country’s coronavirus restrictions.
ROMEA, a local anti-racism NGO, reported that the protest, which took place in Prague, saw demonstrators wearing yellow stars in the same style as those that Holocaust victims were forced to wear under Nazi persecution.
The stars were marked with the words “unvaccinated” in the center.
In response, the Federation of Jewish Communities in the Czech Republic issued a strong condemnation.
“The Federation of Jewish Communities and the Foundation for Holocaust Victims are condemning the textbook abuse and relativizing of a Holocaust symbol that is associated with the suffering of millions of people,” the Federation said on Facebook.
“It is evident that it is necessary to constantly educate our society and to recommend that all who resort to such base displays visit the locations associated with the Nazi genocide both at home and abroad,” the organization added. “We thank all who publicly condemned these displays during the Sabbath today.”
Daniel Meron, Israel’s Ambassador to the Czech Republic, tweeted Saturday that “The use of the Yellow Star of David in anti-vaccination protests is a disgrace and an insult to the memory of the victims of the Holocaust.”
Member of parliament Jan Bartoљek, who in 2019 introduced a resolution condemning boycotts of Israel, addressed the demonstrators directly, saying in a tweet, “Nobody is persecuting you. At most, you’re persecuted by your own stupidity.”
“This is moral chutzpah, this is the rape of the Holocaust symbol of those victims,” he wrote. “You all have the opportunity to cast a ballot in free elections, which the Jewish people then, or the persecuted Christians and Uyghurs in China have never had and still do not have.”
