'It is really dizzying for our community': Growing anti-Semitism forcing Jewish Americans to be more vigilant
CNN
Michael Igel had listened to his grandparents' memories of the Holocaust for years when as a tween, he first confronted a friend who had a swastika drawn on his shoe. At that moment, he quickly realized the atrocities his family survived were unknown to many.
The other boy drew the symbol without knowing its meaning simply because it caught his eye, said Igel, who is now 41 years old.
Decades after that encounter, Igel and many other Jewish people in America are reminded in 2022 that ignorance and intolerance continue fueling perceptions about their communities. In recent weeks, a hostage standoff in Texas, vandalism at two Chicago synagogues, flyers with anti-Semitic language being distributed in several states and even "The View" host Whoopi Goldberg's comments on the Holocaust have made Jewish people more vigilant and highlighted a "growing crisis" in the United States, experts and Jewish advocates said.