Overview
- Monty Goldstein marked his 102nd birthday by telling reporters he is saddened by modern antisemitism and asking, “What have I done to deserve it?”
- Goldstein served in the Royal Artillery after being conscripted in 1943 and has been an active member of AJEX, the Association of Jewish Ex-Servicemen, since 1945.
- He recalled facing antisemitism in east London during the years when Sir Oswald Mosley’s British Union of Fascists were active and said that history helps explain the community’s alarm today.
- The articles link his remarks to recent local crimes, including the April stabbing of two Jewish men in Golders Green and a May arson attack at a former Whitechapel synagogue.
- Goldstein urged schools to teach more about antisemitism, said some Jews now fear walking certain streets and feel like second-class citizens, and no new official policy responses tied to his comments were reported.