UN's Albanese claims Jews in Nazi camps were called ‘Muslims,’ distorts history of 'antisemitism'

During the Holocaust, Jews being taken to the gas chambers in Nazi concentration camps were referred to as “the Muslims,” UN Special Rapporteur on the Palestinian territories Francesca Albanese claimed in an interview with the Latin American and Caribbean Confederation of State Workers (CLATE) published earlier this month.

“In fact, when they were being taken to the gas chambers, there are some accounts of life in the concentration camps saying that Jews were called ‘the Muslims,’” Albanese said.

The term Muselmann, German for “Muslim,” was used at Auschwitz and other Nazi concentration camps to refer to prisoners in a state of extreme exhaustion or suffering severe symptoms of starvation, according to the Auschwitz-Birkenau Memorial. The term, whose etymology “has not been definitively explained,” referred to prisoners in this physical state and was not a Nazi racial classification identifying Jews as Muslims.

According to the Memorial, prisoners categorized as Muselmänner often died soon afterward or were chosen to be executed.

Albanese made the assertion that “Jews were called ‘the Muslims’” as part of a broader argument that antisemitism originally encompassed discrimination against the broader category of “Semitic peoples,” rather than Jews specifically.

Albanese overrides history of antisemitism

“When the word ‘antisemitism’ was coined, it referred to anyone who was not European and who came from the Middle East,” Albanese said.

While stating that “Jews were Semites,” she went on to assert that, because they were the “largest such group present in Europe,” the word evolved to “overlap with the concept of anti-Judaism” before later coming to refer specifically to prejudice against Jews.

“So there was a racist hatred of the non-white, of the non-pure, of the non-Christian, which then crystallized into antisemitism as hatred of Jews,” she said.

Albanese subsequently acknowledged that hatred of Jews “as Jews” exists and is “extremely serious,” but added that "it must not be confused with criticism of the State of Israel."

History of the term ‘antisemitism’

Contrary to Albanese’s claim, however, the term “antisemitism” was originally created specifically to refer to hostility toward Jews.

According to the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance, the term was coined in 1879 by German journalist Wilhelm Marr “to designate anti-Jewish campaigns [and] was spread through use by anti-Jewish political movements and the general public.” The IHRA notes that the term has “since its inception referred to prejudice against Jews alone.”

While the term “Semitic” refers to a group of languages, including Hebrew and Arabic, “antisemitism” has historically referred specifically to hostility toward Jews. Merriam-Webster defines the term as “hostility toward or discrimination against Jews as a religious, ethnic, or racial group.”

Albanese's history of antisemitism

Albanese has come under scrutiny over allegations of antisemitism and anti-Israel bias numerous times in the past, particularly by the United Nations watchdog UN Watch.

Slamming the rapporteur's comments in the interview, the NGO wrote, "Even in Nazi death camps: She cannot name Jew-hatred without replacing the Jews."

In another instance, Albanese called the State of Israel the "common enemy of humanity" when delivering remarks at the Al Jazeera Forum in Doha earlier this year.

Referring to the Jewish state with “the language of collective demonization... echoes some of the darkest chapters in modern history,” responded Combat Antisemitism Movement's Director of European Affairs Shannon Seban.

In 2024, Albanese posted on X/Twitter, in response to French President Emmanuel Macron, who called the October 7 Hamas massacre "the largest antisemitic massacre of our century," saying: "The greatest antisemitic massacre of our century? No, @EmmanuelMacron. The victims of 7/10 were not killed because of their Judaism but in response to Israel's oppression."

Albanese has repeatedly drawn parallels between Israeli policies and fascist or Nazi regimes, while denying Jewish people's right to self-determination and self-defense under the UN Charter.