Opinion: I survived the Holocaust.What’s happening in Berkeley is scary.

Editor’s note: San DeWitt is a microbiologist, geneticist, researcher, and memoir author.I was born in a nursing home”. She has lived in Berkeley, California since 1957, moving there for advanced research in microbiology and genetics, where she worked until her retirement. The views expressed here are those of the author. View more opinions On CNN.

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In 1957, I moved to Berkeley, California. It was a bastion of American liberalism that squarely aligned with my progressive values, and a center of American scholarship that nurtured my academic exploration and professional growth. I came here for advanced studies in microbiology and genetics. Since then, I have lived in this community, worked as a scientist, and retired.

Although I have occasionally encountered anti-Semitism during the 65 years that I have called this beautiful region home, these one-off incidents have never succeeded in destroying my spirit. When I was four years old, the Nazis broke into my bedroom and sent me and my family to Dachau, their first concentration camp. We were soon released and I was smuggled out of Germany by a Christian woman. After this harrowing experience, very little in the Bay Area terrifies me anymore.

But the hatred against Jews I’ve seen in Berkeley since the Oct. 7 Hamas attack on Israel frightens me more than anything I’ve experienced while living here.I’m still upset about being called a liar. Berkeley City Council meetingSo I asked for a declaration to commemorate Holocaust Remembrance Day and spoke about October 7th. Jews attending the rally were surrounded by threatening demonstrators and called “Zionist pigs.”

We are celebrating the Feast of Passover, which commemorates the liberation of the Israelites from Egyptian slavery and their formation as free Jews in our land. But this Passover is unique in recent history, with many hostages still being held in Gaza, and Jews from all over the world, including Jews in the United States, joining us. are afraid of the future. We are facing the worst global anti-Semitism since the Holocaust. Although anti-Semitism is not sanctioned by the state like Nazism, it is a menace that goes unchecked in California’s East Bay.

It is incredibly painful to watch our neighbors denigrate Jews, tear down posters of Jewish hostages in the Gaza Strip, and disbelieve Jewish rape victims. Hatred and hostility are the norm in this hotbed. Families withdrew their children from public schools. Jewish businesses were destroyed and boycotted. And lies about Jews and Israel were left unchecked in our public life, unchallenged. Our local Jewish community is both horrified and terrified.

This onslaught of Jewish hatred cannot become the new normal. This epidemic must be treated as seriously as racism, homophobia, and all the other hatreds our society faces. We need more education about Judaism and how the long and sordid history of anti-Semitism is tied to other forms of hatred in our public schools.

We need universities to unequivocally condemn hate speech and actions against Jews. We need public officials to encourage mutual respect, understanding, and civil discussion in city council and city hall meetings.

I have seen where unchecked anti-Semitism goes and people end up doing nothing, or worse, joining the mainstream, like Germany’s neighbors during the Nazism era. This Passover, I resolve to spend the time I have left on this earth fighting for the safety of Jews in Berkeley and around the world.

During Passover, we are commanded to tell our children the story of the Exodus from Egypt. We believe that sharing this history with younger generations and reflecting on this hopeful new beginning will provide lasting strength. There is also lasting power in sharing my history as a Jewish refugee. And I’m inviting my Berkeley neighbors to hear my story. Without understanding and acceptance, we become prey to prejudice.

Hatred, violence and bigotry against the Jewish community cannot continue. For our common future, we must confront and eradicate the Jewish community.