A Melbourne rabbi has been left shaken and disturbed after a man hurled anti-Semitic abuse at him during a road-rage incident on Monday night.
The Jewish man was stopped at the lights on the Nepean Highway when a car pulled up beside him and starting shouting at him for looking at his phone, the man claimed.
The rabbi, who wished to remain anonymous out of fear of retribution, started filming the aggression.
“Would you like me to get out and show you what Hitler did?” the man screamed.
“You should have died in the Auschwitz.”
The rabbi claims the man also said he was a “dirty Jew” and “Hitler should have killed you all”.
At the end of the short video, the woman laughs and waves while the man gives him the middle finger repeatedly.
The attacked man, who has lived around the world, said he never expected to receive such treatment on Melbourne streets.
“In Europe, I saw anti-Semitism but I thought in Australia, in 2019, I would never think something like that would happen,” he told the Herald Sun.
“It’s painful that they hate Jews for no reason. They were attacking me with anti-Semitism, just because I’m a Jew.
“It was very threatening. It’s painful for me that such a guy can scream such a thing in the street.”
Anti-Defamation Commission chairman Dr. Dvir Abramovich condemned the act.
“This terrifying incident provides further evidence that racists and extremists are less inhibited about expressing their poisonous bigotry in public,” he said.
“We know that violent words can turn deadly, and such disturbing outbursts, which shock the conscience, not only traumatise the victim but shake the affected community and leave them scared and vulnerable.
“Australians of all faiths and nationalities should feel secure on our streets, without the fear of being singled out for abuse because of their appearance or religion.”
Police on Tuesday night told the Herald Sun they were investigating the shocking incident.
“We take these matters very seriously and are currently making inquiries,” a spokeswoman said.
“Crimes motivated by prejudice cause serious harm to victims, often leaving them, and their communities, feeling vulnerable, threatened and isolated.
“We do not tolerate violence, including that which is motivated by prejudice, racism or discrimination.
“People who experience or witness crimes or incidents motivated by prejudice should report them to police at their local police station.”
As previously reported by the Herald Sun, the number of anti-Semitic incidents in Victoria rose from 79 in 2017 to 105 last year.
The annual anti-Semitism report from the Council of Australian Jewry also found incidents increased by almost 60% nationally.
Anyone with information is urged to contact Crime Stoppers.