Peruvian President José María Balcázar faced sharp criticism after suggesting that Jews helped “push” Germany into World War II, echoing long-discredited antisemitic tropes.
“It is a monument to the history of commerce: how bills of exchange were born, how international trade moved, what role the Jews had in Germany’s national and international trade, how Germany was pushed into a war also partly because of the Jews because they controlled all the banks, all the commerce and practiced usury,” Balcázar said during a speech commemorating the 138th anniversary of the Lima Chamber of Commerce on Tuesday.
The Jewish Association of Peru called the president’s remarks “outdated antisemitic theories.”
“It is unbelievable that in the 21st century, arguments worthy of the dark ages are being used to blame the victims of their own Holocaust,” the organization stated.
The Israeli and German embassies in Lima also issued a joint statement calling the claims “absurd” and historically baseless.
Balcázar’s office issued a clarifying statement on Wednesday that “the president of the republic regrets that those statements generated a mistaken perception regarding the Jewish people in the context of the beginning of World War II.”
“The Peruvian state has consistently maintained that Nazi fanaticism was the cause of that war and was responsible for the unforgivable genocide of the Jewish people,” his office stated. “This historic position, which led Peru to firmly support the creation of the State of Israel, remains unchanged. President José María Balcazar expresses his strongest rejection of the genocide committed against the Jewish people during World War II, reiterates his condemnation of antisemitism and all forms of discrimination, and expresses his solidarity with the victims of the Holocaust.”
Balcázar, an interim leader appointed by Congress in February following the impeachment of former President José Jerí, is expected to remain in office until a new president is sworn in later this year.
