Addressing the Antisemitism Rooted in Anti-vax Arguments
Those against mandatory vaccines such as the newest coronavirus (COVID-19) vaccine, commonly referred to as anti-vaxxers, have been vocal about their distrust and refusal to receive the COVID-19 vaccination, arguing that the mandates are an infringement on peoples’ rights despite the vaccine’s proven safety and ability in slowing the virus’ spread. On Nov. 12, at a Special Committee on Government Outreach in Kansas City, Kansas, a group of anti-vaxxers arrived wearing a yellow Star of David taped to their chests. In attendance at the Government Outreach, Kansas residents and business owners, who are against receiving the COVID-19 vaccination, are demanding unemployment insurance following termination from their jobs for lack of vaccination. The star that these people wore mirror the Jewish badge from World War II, which all Jewish people were required to wear by law in Nazi-occupied lands. The Jewish badge served as a form of branding and part of Adolf Hitler’s larger plan to stigmatize, separate and eventually deport Jews to concentration camps during the Holocaust. Given this history, it is disgusting to see the comparisons made between the industrialized genocide of Jews, where at least six million people were killed, and the vaccine mandates instituted to help slow the spread of a deadly virus and keep people safe (United States Holocaust Memorial Museum).
This is not the only example of anti-vaxxers making light of the Holocaust. On Apr. 24, many British citizens protested the mandatory COVID-19 vaccine documentation in London by sporting a yellow Star of David on their clothing, according to the Cable News Network (CNN). One banner reportedly went as far as to state, “stop the vaccine Holocaust”. However, this offensive and absurd analogy is not exclusive to the COVID-19 vaccine; anti-vaxxers who are against vaccinations in general have brought up this comparison for years. In 2015, during the anti-vaxxers’ protests against California’s mandatory school vaccination laws, they edited images of the yellow Star of David onto themselves to make the comparison that forcing their children to receive vaccinations was reminiscent of the Nazi’s treatment of Jews during the Holocaust (CNN).
Despite anti-vaxxers’ main argument being that the vaccine limits their civil liberties and thus deems the mandate an act of oppression, getting the vaccine does more to benefit the community than it does to harm oneself. With the vaccine’s high efficacy rating before being approved for mass distribution, the foundation upon which their argument is built on is faulty and their actions only put those around them at risk. Furthermore, anti-vaxxers’ basis for the terms of infringement are unfounded under the 10th amendment of the constitution, which addresses police power under the state’s authority as overruling those opposing the vaccine and more generally, placing citizens’ health as the highest priority (Hartford Courant).
Thus, this appropriation of vaccine requirements being a mass genocide is blatantly tone-deaf and demonstrates a significant lack of proper education about the Holocaust. Not only is it disrespectful to Holocaust survivors and their families that their trauma is being used for this purpose, but also to Jewish people as a whole, as the mass extermination of millions of Jews is not comparable to certain people’s distrust of science. Anti-vaxxers’ constant need to portray themselves as an oppressed victim perpetuates this harmful normalization of antisemitism, as the two are not comparable and anti-vaxxers are simply trivializing the Holocaust and using it to further their own selfish agenda. This casual normalization of antisemitism in current society is unacceptable and must be properly addressed. It is imperative for people to educate themselves on the Holocaust, as there are many resources online and no excuse to remain ignorant to why casual references to the Holocaust should not be made lightly or to prove a point.
