MARIETTA, Ga. — In the past week, Macon, Marietta and Warner Robins have faced neo-Nazi group demonstrations spreading hate across their communities.
A new study from the Anti-Defamation League shows antisemitic displays have hit the highest level ever recorded.
The Jewish community across metro Atlanta is standing up and calling for an end to the hate.
Elana Klemm was there when a group of less than a dozen people stood in front of Marietta's Chabad of Cobb holding flags with swastikas.
"They put an Israeli flag, they held it up high and then one of the guys threw it down and just started stomping on it saying 'Jews need to die,'" Klemm said.
The group is notorious for showing up boldly, hiding behind sunglasses and spreading hate in hopes of a reaction.
Klemm said she stood in complete shock.
"The other thing that I'm grappling with is freedom of speech. It's a fundamental right but should not protect hate speech," Klemm said.
Klemm said her kids were Bar and Bat Mitzvahed at the synagogue. Her dad, Reuven Dobry, also fought in the Israeli War for Independence.
"Fortunately, we avoided the Holocaust, but still, I feel very strongly about it because many of my relatives did not. And they perished in the Holocaust," Dobry said.
There were similar demonstrations in Bibb County and Macon. Anti-Semitic flyers were left behind in Warner Robins.
Rabbi Ephraim Silverman says these groups are only trying to rile people up.
"This is very disturbing to think that in America today, in 2023 we're going to see those kinds of images right in front of a synagogue," Silverman said.
Still, Silverman found a silver lining. He says the overwhelming support from the community and other denominations gives him hope.
"We need to somehow transfer this to light in the sense that this should really inspire to more acts of good and kindness," Silverman said.