On a recent family visit to London, I took the opportunity to see Arthur Miller’s Broken Glass. It was the second time I had seen a production of this play, which portrays the rise of Hitler’s Germany in the 1930s.
The story is projected through the eyes of a Jewish woman living in the United States, who suddenly becomes paralyzed. No physical reason can be found for her inability to walk or even stand. A psychotherapist enters the scene, and what evolves is that the woman has become traumatized when learning about what was happening to Jews in Germany, this being the period of deep economic recession within the country. The Jew became the scapegoat, resulting in Jew-hatred.
Among the many laws introduced against Jews was one where Jewish children were expelled from schools solely because they were Jewish. My late husband, John, was one of those children.
Other laws were introduced, segregating Jews from the general population, culminating with Kristallnacht – The Night of Broken Glass (November 9-10,1938) – when synagogues throughout Nazi Germany were set aflame, as well as Jewish-owned businesses, shops, and homes. John, at the age of 10, watched as the synagogue in Bamberg, where his father was the rabbi, was torched.
There was something about this recent production of Broken Glass that I found exceptionally powerful, unlike the performance I had seen 20 years earlier. Could it be that the world in which we Jews find ourselves today is not the same world of 20 years ago?
A member of the forensic team works at the scene, after a man was arrested following a stabbing incident in the Golders Green area, which is home to a large Jewish population, in London, Britain, April 29, 2026. (credit: REUTERS/HANNAH MCKAY)When history feels uncomfortably present
Currently, antisemitism is rearing its ugly head at a level unprecedented in recent times.
The United Kingdom, my birthplace, where I lived until we made aliyah in 1998, has seen an upsurge in antisemitism which accelerated following October 7, 2023 – the day when 1,200 Israelis were barbarically murdered by Hamas. Does this sound illogical? For sure, but logic has no place with those who have decided it is in order to hate Jews even when we are the victims of a massacre.
Recently, the UK has seen the murder of two Jews in Manchester – home to the second-largest number of Jews in Britain; the killings took place on Yom Kippur at the Heaton Park Synagogue. Since then, there have been further attacks on two London-based synagogues. Claiming credit for these assaults is the pro-Iranian group Harakat Ashab al-Yamin al-Islamiyya.
One telling aspect of antisemitism within Britain is that symbols of being Jewish are hidden; this includes the fact that no longer can a Jewish day school feature the word “Jewish” publicly; no longer can children attending Jewish day schools wear a uniform depicting either a Magen David or a menorah while traveling on public transportation.
How is the UK’s Jewish community coping with the ever-increasing antisemitism? I found out more as a guest at the Annual Dinner in aid of the UK’s Community Security Trust, an organization that protects British Jews from terrorism and antisemitism. CST works closely with the police force and receives financial support from the government.
This year’s dinner attracted some 1,200 guests – the largest number ever – with a waiting list of many more anxious to attend. Without doubt, the number of participants reflects the deep concern regarding the increase in antisemitic acts throughout the country.
The guest speaker was the UK’s home secretary, Shabana Mahmood, whose opening remarks referred to the attack that very morning on four Hatzola ambulances in Golders Green – an area of London with a predominance of Jewish residents.
Mahmood said, “Today, Jews in this country are being forced to live a smaller life: They are hiding the signs of their faith; they are fearful as they send their children to school… or even when they attend a hospital appointment. And, of course, they attend synagogues that require physical security…”
Mahmood announced that £7 million had been committed to combat antisemitism in schools, colleges, and universities. Jewish students, on campuses throughout the world, are fearful of the anti-Zionist verbiage that no longer hides itself under the banner of hatred of Israel but is openly antisemitic.
What was the impact of Mahmood’s speech on those at this dinner? Many felt that while the words were strong, the action remains weak.
Contributing to the rise of antisemitism in the UK is the consistent anti-Israel bashing that is prevalent on the UK’s BBC and Sky TV.
An example is the manner in which Israel’s defensive war against Hezbollah – whose military wing is recognized as a terrorist organization by numerous countries – is projected. No mention is made of Hezbollah’s consistent bombardment – with missiles, rockets, and drones – of the Israelis living in the North of Israel.
These are the same Israeli citizens who spent some 18 months away from their homes in the aftermath of the Hamas massacre of Jewish civilians on Oct 7. These families returned to their northern cities, where many do not have adequate protection from the barrage of rockets fired on a daily basis. And this in addition to the psychological trauma too many are experiencing.
Bottom line: The misinformation that TV viewers are fed contributes to the increasing rate of antisemitism.
Two weeks ago in Watford, a city close to London, an attack took place on a Jewish-owned shop where, in the words of the BBC, “a fire door had been set alight and antisemitic graffiti had been scrawled on the building….” The police described it as an isolated incident and not linked to arson attacks on the Jewish community in London.
Nine days ago, two Jews were stabbed close to a synagogue in Golders Green; they were hospitalized – initially in serious condition. However, unlike what happened in Watford, this time the attempted murder was called a terrorist act.
Broken glass – the performance that moved me profoundly – evoked feelings of comparison to our painful past. My thoughts were endorsed on reading the words of the play’s assistant director, Alessandra Davison, in the booklet that accompanied the production, titled “Looking Away: Antisemitism, Appeasement and the Road to Genocide.”
Davison wrote: “Although it is often more comfortable for nations to view the Holocaust as an isolated event within Nazi Germany, its origins are far broader. While Hitler’s regime certainly orchestrated the mass genocide that occurred, the conditions that enabled it were shaped by decades of social prejudice and persistent inaction against antisemitism across Europe and beyond….”
Do these words ring bells? As attacks on synagogues and Jewish-owned businesses increase – not only in the UK but throughout the free world, the ring of the bells becomes louder.
Fortunately, for us Jews it is not yesterday but today; we are the privileged generation to be blessed with our own Jewish state, whose rebirth 78 years ago we celebrate. Am Yisrael chai.■
The writer is president of Israel, Britain and the Commonwealth Association and has chaired public affairs organizations in Israel and the UK.