Europe28 September, 20262 min read
Francesca Albanese Apologizes After Yad Vashem Criticism Over Nazi Camps ‘Muselmann’ Claim
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Albanese apologized, saying she misinterpreted 'Muselmann' and Nazis did not call Jews Muslims. She walked back claims antisemitism is not only about Jews.
9 outlets told this the same way.
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UN apology in Europe
UN Special Rapporteur for the Palestinian territories Francesca Albanese walked back her claim that Jews in Nazi concentration camps were called “Muslims,” after criticism tied to the Yad Vashem memorial.
Albanese apologized on X by writing, “I sincerely apologize. I misread the term ‘Muselmann’ (Muslim) used in Nazi camps for prisoners at the brink of death,” and she clarified that “it was coined specifically to denote hatred of Jews.”
Yad Vashem accused Albanese of “fundamental distortion” and said her use of “Muselmann” was “historically inaccurate,” arguing that the term “was not a term specifically for Jews.”
UN Watch’s Hillel Neuer repudiated the remarks by posting, “Francesca Albanese in this interview is not explaining antisemitism; she is completely rewriting its meaning.”
What Albanese said
Albanese told an interview with the Latin American and Caribbean Confederation of State Workers (CLATE) that “When the term ‘antisemitism’ was first coined, it referred to anyone who wasn’t European and came from the Middle East,” and she added that “there are some testimonies about life in the concentration camps that mention how Jews were referred to as ‘Muslims.'” Albanese then retracted the interpretation by writing, “I misread the term ‘Muselmann’ (Muslim) used in Nazi camps for prisoners at the brink of death,” and she said she had wrongly inferred that antisemitism originally meant hatred of all Semitic peoples.
The Times of Israel framed the dispute around Albanese’s earlier claim that “Jews were referred to as Muslims,” while it also quoted her apology that “In fact it was coined specifically to denote hatred of Jews.” DIE WELT described the controversy as sparked by Albanese’s explanation that “Muselmann” was a jargon term used by Jews in some Nazi concentration camps for fellow inmates “close to death due to hunger and exhaustion.”
Europe-wide political fallout
European political figures tied the controversy to demands for Albanese’s resignation, with DIE WELT naming Foreign Minister Christiane Wadephul (CDU) and his French counterpart as calling for her to step down. DIE WELT said the background included Albanese’s remarks in an online conference about a “common enemy” in connection with Israel, and it placed the antisemitism dispute within a broader pattern of criticism of her statements on Israel and antisemitism.
“‘The term antisemitism was coined in the 19th specifically to denote hatred of Jews.”
The Jewish Chronicle reported that Albanese’s apology included a statement to the JC in which she wrote, “The term antisemitism was coined in the 19th specifically to denote hatred of Jews,” and she added, “I sincerely apologise to anyone who may have felt offended or misled.” UN Watch’s Hillel Neuer continued to attack the framing by saying Albanese “cannot name Jew-hatred without replacing the Jews,” as the controversy over her remarks spread.