Pogrom in Antwerp

We are standing on the Keyserlei, right by the former Cinema Rex. On Easter Monday, April 14, 1941, a Nazi propaganda film sparked a violent anti‑Jewish riot.

Following the screening of Der Ewige Jude, three instigators urged the audience to join them. Between 200 and 400 armed activists, including members of the Black Brigade, SS‑Flanders, and Volksverwering, marched into the Jewish quarter. Using bats and iron rods, they smashed shop windows, looted Jewish stores, set fire to two synagogues, and destroyed Rabbi Rottenberg’s home. Torah scrolls and prayer books were thrown onto the streets and burned in public auto‑da‑fés.

Police and firefighters remained largely passive—understaffed, unarmed, and unable to act while German soldiers stood by. Order was restored the next day, but fresh riots erupted on April 17.

No deaths were reported, but the emotional and material toll was immense. Around two hundred storefront windows were shattered, two synagogues badly damaged, and many sacred items were destroyed—a harrowing prelude to worse persecution awaiting Antwerp’s Jewish community.