Aged nine, Mirielle Knoll somehow managed to evade the SS and their, depressingly enthusiastic, French collaborators as they rounded up 13,000 Parisian Jews and took them to the Vel' d'Hiv cycling track from where they were sent on a one way trip to Auschwitz. Mirielle survived the war.
But this week, aged 85 she was stabbed 11 times in her Paris apartment which was then set on fire. At least the authorities are taking this seriously, stating explicitly that the assailants were driven by anti-semitism and that this was a hate crime.
A year ago in the same district 65-year-old Sarah Halimi, an orthodox Jewish woman was was thrown out of her window and died. The authorities denied that this was a hate crime although a Judge has since over-ruled that.
I can't get hold of up to date data although it is clear that anti-semitic attacks in France are increasing rapidly and are now at the highest levels since the last Word War. But here's a 2014 report from the Interior Ministry of the French government and the Jewish Community Security Service:
The 2014 report states that in the course of one year there was a “100% increase in anti-Semitic threats and actions, with a significant rise in violent actions and assaults.” 851 such acts were recorded in 2014. The report further highlights the fact that Jews are victims of most racist attacks. “51% of racist acts committed in 2014 targeted Jews. Jews represent less than 1% of the French population. Less than 1% of this country’s citizens are the target of half of all racist acts committed in France."
No wonder that 7,000 Jews are now leaving France for Israel each year, 1.5% of the French Jewish population. Emigration to the "safe space" of Israel is now at levels not seen since the foundation of the Jewish State in 1948.
France is not alone in Europe in seeing such trends although it does appear to have a particular problem. But it is the European trend that makes the failure of Jeremy Corbyn to address this issue so utterly indefensible. And the scale of the problem is one reason why Israel has to be defended as the only place where Jews can really feel safe.