In yet another anti-Semitic incident in Europe, passengers aboard a Belgian train from Namur to Brussels were subjected to the following announcement on the five o’clock train January 31: “Ladies and gentlemen, we are approaching Auschwitz. All Jews are requested to disembark and take a short shower.”

Belgian rail company SNCB filed a police report for incitement to hatred.

The incident was reported by television station RTL, which stated that an unidentified passenger gained access to the PA system aboard the train to make the unauthorized statement.  The remarks were made in French.

Viviane Teitelbaum, a Jewish lawmaker in the assembly of the Brussels region, was made aware of the incident, and spoke to the TV station.  According to Teitelbaum, a witness to the incident suspected a group of youth aboard the train grabbed the conductor’s keys, thus gaining access to the PA system.

A similar incident took place in 2012, when a passenger aboard the same train announced, “Welcome to this train heading to Auschwitz. All Jews are requested to disembark at Buchenwald.”  The perpetrator was never caught.

All across Europe, reports of increased anti-Semitism are coming in.  In Rome, pigs heads were sent to the Israeli embassy, as well as a Jewish synagogue, in January.  In Bulgaria, an Israeli tourist traveling with her son was dismayed to find mugs with swastikas and pictures of Hitler for sale in souvenir shops.  When confronted, the woman said, one shopkeeper told her, “What’s wrong with that? Hitler is good.”  A recent survey of European Jewry revealed one in four Jews fears publicly displaying his or her Jewish identity.