CW: Antisemitism

Halloween is supposed to be fun, right? It’s a time when you can dress up as something ridiculous and kids can eat chocolate until their teeth fall out. Making a costume for Halloween is a chance to express yourself, a medium to say something about your beliefs, dress up as your favourite character, or simply make a joke. This can go either really well and give us all a good meme or offend a whole community. I have heard of Halloween parties before and how fun it was, but I have never heard the part that involved the offensive costumes people wore to such parties. In a place where my friends were celebrating, a couple came in dressed as Adolf Hitler and Eva Braun, and that was not the end of it. They posted videos saying “Heil Hitler” and dedicating their words to Jews on Instagram. The stories went viral.

Not only was this wrong on so many levels and was a clear act of Antisemitism, but people had to complain to get them removed from such a party in Buenos Aires. Neither the security nor owners kicked them out or did anything until people started to notice them. This was a private party, which had people from all over the state, including Jews. Friends of mine were going but they ended up staying home. There is no reality or context in which this is okay. Given Argentina's history of Antisemitism and that this is not the first time something like this has happened, I am not surprised people continue  doing it. This wasn't the only act of Antisemitism that happened during the Halloween celebrations; a Torah was destroyed at a fraternity house at the George Washington University, in Washington, D.C. It disgusts me how people even have the nerve to think about doing this.

One of Argentina's most important Jewish organizations, Delegación de Asociaciones Israelitas Argentinas (DAIA), has already gone to court to protest for some type of consequence for the couple’s actions. From BBYO, there is a super exciting program on Kristallnacht by the genocide education committee, how Antisemitism continues to rise today, and the whole idea of free hate. I am so glad that spaces like this give us the chance to all meet together and be able to continue with Jewish traditions in our own way. We are able to show that we are still here and our voice needs to be heard.