Above: a sign that reads, not vaccinated is attatched to the back of an anti-vaccine protester in Paris<\/p>\n
A Holocaust survivor has slammed anti-vaccination protesters who compared themselves to Jews persecuted by Nazi Germany during World War II.<\/p>\n
As more than 100,000 people marched around France against government vaccine rules on Saturday, some demonstrators wore yellow stars recalling the ones the Nazis forced Jews to wear.<\/p>\n
Other demonstrators carried signs evoking the Auschwitz death camp or South Africa\u2019s apartheid regime, claiming the French government was unfairly mistreating them with its anti-pandemic measures.<\/p>\n
The protests come after France announced plans to prevent those without both COVID jabs from going to restaurants.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou can\u2019t imagine how much that upset me. This comparison is hateful. We must all rise up against this ignominy,\u201d Holocaust survivor Joseph Szwarc, 94, said on Sunday during a ceremony commemorating victims of antisemitic and racist acts by the French state, which collaborated with Adolf Hitler\u2019s regime.<\/p>\n
\u201cI wore the star, I know what that is, I still have it in my flesh,\u201d Szwarc, who was deported from France by the Nazis, said with tears in his eyes.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is everyone\u2019s duty to not allow this outrageous, antisemitic, racist wave to pass over us.”<\/p>\n
France\u2019s secretary of state for military affairs, who also attended the ceremony, called the protesters\u2019 actions \u201cintolerable and a disgrace for our republic.\u201d<\/p>\n
The International League against Racism and Anti-Semitism said the protesters were \u201cmocking victims of the Holocaust\u201d and minimising crimes against humanity committed during World War II.<\/p>\n
Saturday\u2019s protests involved a mix of people angry at the government for various reasons and notably supporters of the far right. Prominent French far-right figures have been convicted in the past of antisemitism, racism, and denying the Holocaust.<\/p>\n
On Tuesday, the Israeli minister for immigration also denounced comparisons between the COVID-19 health pass and the Holocaust.<\/p>\n
Speaking at a Paris ceremony, Pnina Tamano Shata said the yellow stars worn by French protestors were “of an unhealthy and nauseating nature”.<\/p>\n
“There is absolutely no room for comparison between [the Holocaust] which not only affected the Jewish people but was also a tragedy for all of humanity, with these efforts that we are all making today in the face of this global pandemic to try to save lives,” she added.<\/p>\n
The mayor of Paris, Marlene Schiappa, has also stated that she finds the use of the stars “deeply shocking”.<\/p>\n
The French government is introducing a bill on Monday requiring all health care workers to get vaccinated against the coronavirus and requiring COVID passes to enter restaurants and other venues.<\/p>\n
At a large protest in Paris on Saturday against vaccine rules, one demonstrator pasted a star on his back reading \u201cnot vaccinated.\u201d Bruno Auquier, a 53-year-old town councillor who lives on the outskirts of Paris, drew a yellow star on his T-shirt and handed out armbands with the star.<\/p>\n
\u201cI will never get vaccinated,\u201d Auquier said. \u201cPeople need to wake up,\u201d he said, questioning the safety of COVID-19 vaccines.<\/p>\n
Auquier expressed concern that the new measures would restrict his two children\u2019s freedom and pledged to take them out of school if vaccination becomes mandatory.<\/p>\n
Polls suggest most French people support the measures, but they have prompted anger in some quarters. Vandals targeted two vaccination centres in southwest France over the weekend. One was set on fire, and another was covered in graffiti, including a reference to the Nazi occupation of France.<\/p>\n
France has reported more than 111,000 deaths in the pandemic, and new confirmed cases are increasing again, raising worries about renewed pressure on hospitals and further restrictions that would damage jobs and businesses.<\/p>\n