fbpx

Virtual Shivah in UK Zoombombed With Swastikas, Hitler Clips

The shivah was commemorating Linda Huglin, 68, who had been buried earlier that day in the British city of Liverpool. Police are investigating the incident.
[additional-authors]
August 11, 2020
NEW YORK, NY – APRIL 18: People pass walk by the Nasdaq building as the screen shows the logo of the video-conferencing software company Zoom after the opening bell ceremony on April 18, 2019 in New York City. The video-conferencing software company announced it’s IPO priced at $36 per share, at an estimated value of $9.2 billion. (Photo by Kena Betancur/Getty Images)

A virtual shivah held on Zoom was disrupted with various Nazi images on Aug. 5, attendees told news outlets.

The shivah was commemorating Linda Huglin, 68, who had been buried earlier that day in the British city of Liverpool. The disruption occurred around 25 minutes into the Zoom call. One of the attendees, Raphael Gee, told the Jewish Chronicle (JC) that three or four people were involved in the disruption and they entered the call under the aliases of Anne Frank and Adolf Hitler.

“There were swastikas and cartoonish-type propaganda that wouldn’t have been out of place in Nazi Germany,” he said.

Another attendee, Gwendoline Lamb, told the Jewish News that the disrupters were shouting, “There was no such thing as the Holocaust, absolute rubbish, there was never a Holocaust.”

“They were showing films of Hitler and everybody’s saluting Hitler and Hitler’s speaking, and they were laughing and shouting that there was no such thing as the Holocaust,” she added.

Huglin’s husband, Victor, told the JC that he didn’t see the Zoombombing occur because he was still going through funeral prayers.

“Linda’s life was one of great inspiration as she was a great leader and took great pride as a Jewish person,” Victor said. “If some neo-Nazis and some crazies want to break into a Zoom shivah, then I’ll teach them the prayers that they want so they can participate.”

The incident was not recorded and attendees expressed regret for not taking any screenshots of it.

“We just needed to get the hell out of the meeting as quickly as possible,” Gee told the Jewish News. “It just didn’t come to us until later that perhaps we could have taken some could have taken some screenshots.”

The Allerton Synagogue Congregation hosted the virtual shivah; the synagogue’s administrator, David Coleman, told the Jewish News that the link to the shivah was made public on Facebook, which is likely how the Zoombombers entered the call. He said that the synagogue will implement better security measures going forward.

Police are currently investigating the incident.

Anti-Defamation League CEO Jonathan Greenblatt tweeted, “Shiva is sacred space in the Jewish faith to grieve and mourn over the passing of a loved one. It is nauseating that hateful actors allegedly zoombombed this moment with anti-Semitic images and language.”

“Zoombombing” is the term that’s used to describe incidents in which people disrupt video conference calls, often with anti-Semitic, racist and sexually explicit messages and images. People currently are relegated to such video conference calls as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Did you enjoy this article?
You'll love our roundtable.

Editor's Picks

Latest Articles

Print Issue: Got College? | Mar 29, 2024

With the alarming rise in antisemitism across many college campuses, choosing where to apply has become more complicated for Jewish high school seniors. Some are even looking at Israel.

More news and opinions than at a
Shabbat dinner, right in your inbox.

More news and opinions than at a Shabbat dinner, right in your inbox.

More news and opinions than at a Shabbat dinner, right in your inbox.