France: Nazi hunter Serge Klarsfeld urges Macron to lead rally against antisemitism

In a post published Thursday on the social network X, Arno Klarsfeld revealed an initiative led by his father, Serge Klarsfeld, president of the Sons and Daughters of Deported Jews of France and a central figure in the fight for the memory of the Shoah. Mr. Klarsfeld proposed to the President of the Republic that he lead a major demonstration against antisemitism, which could take place on January 27, the date of the international commemoration of the memory of the victims of the Shoah.

The choice of this date carries strong symbolic significance. January 27 marks the anniversary of the liberation of the Auschwitz-Birkenau camp and is a day dedicated to the memory of the victims of the Holocaust and to the fight against antisemitism. By suggesting a national mobilization on this occasion, Serge Klarsfeld intends to embed this struggle within a continuum of remembrance and republican values, at a time when antisemitic acts are experiencing a worrying resurgence in France.

According to Arno Klarsfeld, Macron's office stated that it had “taken a note” of this proposal. It also recalled that the head of state considers the fight against antisemitism “a key marker of his actions,” describing this phenomenon as “an abject scourge” with “many faces” that is unfortunately on the rise.

Serge Klarsfeld, whose father, Arno Klarsfeld, was arrested by the Gestapo in 1943 and then murdered at Auschwitz, has devoted his life to defending the memory of Jewish deportees from France and tracking down Nazi criminals, alongside his wife Beate Klarsfeld. Through this commitment, he now calls for a strong political signal, manifested at the highest level of the state, in the face of a hatred he considers incompatible with republican values.