In response to the intensification of antisemitic violence in Europe, Spertus Institute for Jewish Learning and Leadership will host Deidre Berger, Director of the Berlin office of the American Jewish Committee (AJC), for a talk titled The Upsurge of Antisemitism and The Future of Jewish Life in Europe. Berger will speak at 7 p.m. Sunday, March 15 about the challenges, concerns, and future options for Jews living in Europe today.

Deidre Berger is a frequent lecturer on European security affairs and issues of extremism. Prior to joining AJC Berlin’s Ramer Institute for German-Jewish Relations, Ms. Berger was a foreign correspondent who reported on European affairs for NPR, Deutsche Welle (the German international radio and television service), the Jewish Telegraphic Agency, and the Christian Science Monitor.

Ms. Berger’s Chicago talk comes after deadly attacks in Paris in January and Copenhagen in February. These attacks follow a year marked by an escalation of violent antisemitism, including killings in May at the Jewish Museum in Brussels. The situation is fueling deep concern within Jewish communities, particularly amongst young people, about their future in Europe.

Despite condemnations by top leaders, there has been little political action taken in response to the rise in antisemitic violence. In a recent post for The Times of Israel, Deidre Berger, in talking about security for Jews in Germany and all of Europe, said, “Neither the German parliament nor the European Parliament has launched a discussion of the situation of Jews in the wake of traumatizing terror attacks on Jewish citizens in the heart of Europe. There have been no action plans or task forces constituted to develop comprehensive security plans to ensure the vitality and permanence of Jewish life in Europe.”

“A democracy is only as strong as the weakest of its links, and European Jewry at the moment is vulnerable,” she continued. “It is time for coordinated measures to fight anti-Semitism to be placed at the top of the political agenda, and for civil society to do all in its power to ensure that Jewish life is not in danger.”

Tickets for the March 15 talk are $18 for the public and $8 for students. Tickets can be purchased online at spertus.edu or by phone at 312.322.1773. Spertus Institute is located at 610 S. Michigan Avenue. Discount parking is available for $11 at the Essex Inn (two blocks south).