'Rise up Adolf': Croatian soccer fans chant about Auschwitz

(Oct. 16, 2026 / JNS)

Soccer fans in Split, Croatia, chanted about killing Jews at a rally on Thursday by Hajduk Split fans ahead of the Croatian club’s match against Dutch side Ajax, whose fans and rivals often refer to as “Jews.”

The chants referenced Auschwitz and included calls to “Fire up the ovens,” “Rise up Adolf,” and slogans in favor of the Ustaše, a pro-Nazi Croatian movement the participated in the Holocaust and genocide against Jews, Serbs and Roma during World War II, the Index.hr news site reported.

The Croatian government, on its main account on X, posted a statement condemning the fans in Split.

“We strongly condemn the unacceptable chants glorifying the Nazi regime that were recorded among a portion of fans in the stands before today’s match in Split. The police are conducting a criminal investigation to identify and prosecute those who shouted punishable chants in the stands. Such shameful behavior constitutes a negation of the sport and the democratic values that modern Croatia cherishes.”

The Embassy of Israel in Zagreb thanked the government for its stance and said on X that it was “deeply shocked by the severe antisemitic incident that occurred” in Split and “condemns it in the strongest possible terms. Such incidents must be unequivocally and decisively condemned by all competent authorities at all levels.”

Antisemitism around AFC Ajax matches is a well-documented phenomenon in Europe. Many non-Jewish supporters call themselves “Jews” and display Israeli flags, while rival fans use antisemitic chants to insult them.

Some insist their hostility concerns soccer rather than actual Jews. Some of the language around Ajax, however, explicitly targets Jews and Israel: Supporters of the Arhem-based Dutch SBV Vitesse club chanted “Hamas, Hamas, Jews to the gas” before a match against Ajax in April 2021.

The rhetoric spreads beyond soccer, affecting Jews. In May 2019, a Jewish man reported that supporters of the Feyenoord team in Rotterdam assaulted him after he asked them to stop singing about burning Jews during Liberation Day celebrations in The Hague.

In October 2020, Fox Sports in the Netherlands added recorded chants of a popular soccer chant, “Whoever doesn’t jump is a Jew,” to its broadcast of an Ajax–Groningen match played in an empty stadium. The broadcaster subsequently apologized.