Holocaust survivor Raymond Naar’s story is one of luck and bravery.

“Antisemitism doesn’t grow out of nowhere. It’s something that accumulates and eventually explodes. The Holocaust was a culmination of antisemitism," Naar said. 

Naar was born and raised in Greece, but his family had Spanish citizenship. Spain was a neutral country in World War II so, for a while, they were able to fly under Nazi radar, until 1943 when the Germans came knocking.

“My father says, I'd better go and, talk to them. He was giving himself up to try to save us," Naar said.

His father told the Germans he was home alone, so they took his dad away. Eventually, he was put on a train and his family was told he was protected because the train was going back to Spain.

“However, the train did not go to Spain, it went instead to Germany. It went to Bergen-Belsen, the same concentration camp as Anne Frank," Naar said. 

Back in Greece, Naar and his mother went into hiding for about six months, bouncing around and being assisted by friends who knew the danger, but broke the law anyway. They were eventually able to get fake ID cards that said they were Christian and after months of hiding, the war finally ended.

Naar and his mother were eventually reunited with his father, who was rescued by American forces.

“We were very lucky, because we had moved at the right time. We're lucky because we met people that were able to help us and save us," Naar said.

Years later, Naar moved to the U.S. to go to school for engineering and met his wife, Sigrid. Now he shares his story, most recently at an event for Amidah Albany, an organization that fights antisemitism in all forms.

“Jewish people being blamed for all of the world's problems, for all of the woes of any given society, that’s the way that antisemitism functions. And that’s what we saw during the Holocaust and it's what we're seeing happen now," Laura Weisblatt, co-founder of Amidah Albany, said.

Weisblatt says Jewish hate has gotten worse. The American Jewish Committee recently issued a report on antisemitism that says 33% of American Jews report being the personal target of antisemitism in the last 12 months. In 2024, there were more than 9,300 antisemitic incidents across the U.S, according to the Anti Defamation League. This represents a 5% increase from 2023 and a 344% increase over the past five years.

“Because people disagree with whatever is happening in Israel, the Jewish people as a conglomerate are being collectively blamed or collectively held responsible. Demonizing Jews, making Jews feel like they can't celebrate their holidays or they can't celebrate their identity, which doesn’t really happen to other groups. It really is a is a very unique type of hatred," Weisblatt said.

Because of that antisemitism, Naar knows his words matter, his story matters.

“We should not ignore it. We should not rationalize it. We should defend ourselves and we should confront it. We should tell loudly, our own story," Naar said.