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Holocaust survivor calls Amsterdam attack ‘modern-day kristallnacht’

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Holocaust survivor calls Amsterdam attack 'modern-day kristallnacht'

Following a soccer match in Amsterdam, a vicious attack on Jews has left one New Yorker who fled the Dutch city as a child to escape the Holocaust “in shock.”

“It’s like a modern-day Kristallnacht,” expressed Lore Baer, an Amsterdam native born three months before the infamous “Night of Broken Glass” in 1938. She compared the recent attack to history repeating itself, stating, “It’s really haunting,” the 86-year-old Upper West Sider told The Post on Friday, ahead of the 86th anniversary of the terrifying night.

The unprovoked attack on Israeli soccer fans visiting to watch their Maccabi Tel Aviv team on Thursday is being referred to as a “classic pogrom.”

Lore Baer at 5 years old. Courtesy of Lore Baer

Reports indicate that Jewish men, women, and children were targeted, rammed by cars, beaten on the street, stabbed, and thrown into canals by Arabic-speaking mobs.

Watchdogs have criticized the police for their inaction, allowing the violence to continue for hours.

“They told the Israelis to go into the hotels and not leave,” said StandWithUs Netherlands executive director Yahly Bar-Lev. Jewish victims reportedly did not feel safe with the local police.

The attack on Jews, more than eight decades after the Holocaust, hits close to home for Baer, who lived in Amsterdam until age 5 before being taken to safety by a Gentile family during the war.

Lore Baer, a Holocaust survivor, seen here at the Anne Frank house with her grand niece Nia. Courtesy of Lore Baer

As she witnessed scenes reminiscent of the past, Baer remembered the horror of Kristallnacht and expressed concern for her family’s safety in the US.

“It’s not that different from what’s happening at Columbia,” she remarked, drawing parallels between recent events and past atrocities.

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Israeli soccer fans were ambushed and brutally assaulted in Amsterdam overnight Thursday. @SamvanRooy1/X

Having emigrated to the US in 1947, Baer returned to Amsterdam multiple times, with her last visit coinciding with a tragic event on Oct. 7.

Reflecting on the recent attack, Baer noted the changes she observed and expressed uncertainty about returning to her native city.

Holocaust organizations have condemned the attack and its timing, emphasizing the importance of learning from past tragedies.

“Eighty-six years after Kristallnacht and we’re witnessing pogroms in the streets of Europe – it’s unacceptable,” said Greg Schneider of the Claims Conference.

“It depresses us about not learning lessons from the Shoah,” he added. “It’s not history – it’s news.”

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