(JNS) Speaking at the annual Park East Synagogue and United Nations International Holocaust Remembrance Service on Jan. 26, U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres said, “Propaganda linking Jews with the pandemic, for example, by accusing them of creating the virus as part of a bid for global domination, would be ridiculous, if it were not so dangerous,” he said. This is just the latest manifestation of an antisemitic trope that dates back to at least the 14th century, when Jews were accused of spreading the bubonic plague,” he added. Guterres said this dangerous and latest manifestation of antisemitism has been exacerbated by the spread of “propaganda and disinformation” through the growth of social media and must be seen “in the context of a global attack on truth that has reduced the role of science and fact-based analysis in public life.”

Citing a study by the Claims Conference, Guterres noted that almost two-thirds of young Americans do not know that 6 million Jews were killed during the Holocaust. The 50-state study conducted in 2018 showed an alarming and distorted understanding of the Holocaust by those born since 1980.

Main Photo: U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres speaks at the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia on Dec. 21, 2017 in The Hague. Credit: International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia/Wikimedia Commons.