[Opinion] Mapping Jews echoes history’s darkest hours
[Excerpts]
The Holocaust was not merely a calamity of hate but a catastrophe enabled by the systematic identification, cataloguing and isolation of Jewish citizens. In Nazi Germany, names, addresses and associations were weaponized to strip human beings of their dignity, and ultimately, of their lives. Identification became the first step toward annihilation.
As the world marks the annual International Holocaust Remembrance Day on Jan. 27, it is that grim history that makes recent mapping projects targeting Jews and Jewish communities so unnerving.
A very recent example, the BarcelonaZ project launched in October 2025, caused alarm across Spain and internationally. Claiming to try to “understand how Zionism operates,” it logged more than 150 schools, businesses, nonprofits and organizations in Barcelona and Catalonia allegedly linked to Jews or Israel, categorizing them as “Zionist” and publishing their sensitive private details like location and contact information.