c. 1998 Religion News Service

(Rabbi Rudin is national interreligious affairs director of the American Jewish Committee.)

UNDATED _ The death in October of the Rev. Edward Flannery, 87, robbed the world of a major leader in the struggle against anti-Semitism. Following the conclusion of the Second Vatican Council, Flannery was the American Roman Catholic bishops’ first director of Catholic-Jewish relations between 1967 and 1977.

In his landmark book,”The Anguish of the Jews,”Flannery documented the persistence of virulent anti-Semitism within Christianity. He warned that anti-Semitism, the”world’s oldest pathology,”must constantly be monitored and combated. Sadly, recent events have confirmed the truth of Flannery’s words.

A yearlong Swiss government survey reveals that anti-Semitism has sharply increased in Switzerland in reaction to the revelations of that country’s World War II activities.

For decades Switzerland was perceived as a bastion of religious liberty and political enlightenment. Mountains, watches, safe banking and chocolate were the images the Swiss sought to transmit to the world.

However, we now know that Swiss authorities in 1938 asked Nazi Germany to stamp a”J”on the passports of Jews seeking asylum in Switzerland. During World War II, Swiss banks accepted stolen gold from the Nazis and laundered money for Hitler’s war effort. At the same time, many doomed European Jews opened Swiss bank accounts, hoping the funds would be made available to their survivors.

But for over 50 years the rightful heirs were denied their family assets, and it required a massive public campaign to finally force Swiss banks to pay $1.25 billion to Holocaust survivors.

The 1998 Swiss study reports the”political crisis concerning Switzerland’s self-image”and economic distress has caused an upsurge in anti-Semitism. Doris Angst Yimaz, who helped prepare the report, said:”We Swiss are not special … even in anti-Semitism.”She lamented that today many Swiss believe”the Jews”were the villains and”the Swiss were the victims”during the Nazi period.

History is turned on its head, and when in doubt, blame”the Jews.” Vatican officials have announced plans to beatify Pius XII, who was pope between 1939 and 1958. Aharon Lopez, Israel’s ambassador to the Vatican, urged that the effort to make a saint of Pius XII be delayed for 50 years out of respect for the feelings of many Jews who say he did not do enough to oppose the Holocaust.

Lopez said that even though”the beatification of saints is the absolute prerogative of the church … Holocaust survivors are still with us (and) it would seem wiser to wait … until sensitivities have been defused and historians have access to all the records and can make a judgment (about Pius XII’s actions during World War II). This is the time to speak out while (beatification) is still in process and not a fait accompli.” But instead of responding to the substance of the ambassador’s views, the Rev. Peter Gumpel, the priest who directs the effort for Pius XII’s beatification, angrily replied:”These attacks and insults by some groups are counterproductive.”The ambassador’s remarks were”imprudent and provocative.”And then, in an all-too-familiar tactic, Gumpel ominously warned:”I would not be surprised if (Lopez’ remarks and criticism of Pius XII) led to a rise of anti-Semitic feeling.” It is the oldest game in the world. Blame the protester for creating the problem, and threaten Jews with”a rise”of anti-Semitism if they do not remain quiet. Hopefully, Gumpel’s barbed response does not reflect the official Vatican position.

Then there is the case of Germany.

Public ceremonies in Berlin marking the 60th anniversary of Kristallnacht _ the night in 1938 when German Nazis launched wide attacks on Jewish properties _ clearly revealed how difficult it is today for Germany to deal with its anti-Semitic past.

Newly elected German Chancellor Gerhard Schroder participated in the commemoration along with Ignatz Bubis, president of the German Jewish community. Schroder declared that Germany must”look ahead without forgetting what happened … the past cannot repeat itself.” But Bubis pointed to a growing movement, especially among German intellectuals, to suppress the memory of the Nazi years. Bubis said this trend is”more and more widespread … and it is not free of an unstated anti-Semitism.”He noted that some German leaders have called the proposed Berlin Holocaust memorial a”nightmare.” The new Schroder administration has expressed reservations about the memorial and will put the plan to a vote in the German parliament in 1999, an action certain to spark bitter debate. And in a particularly disturbing statement, Michael Naumann, Germany’s cultural affairs minister, said a Holocaust memorial in Berlin would likely be desecrated with neo-Nazi vandalism and graffiti.

It seems incredible that Europe’s most powerful country and one of America’s closest democratic allies cannot provide adequate security to protect a sacred memorial in the heart of its capital.

Tragically, Flannery was right. Anti-Semitism remains the world’s oldest and most virulent pathology.

IR END RUDIN