For Jews, the parallels are particularly chilling. In the summer of 1938, Hitler demanded the annexation of the Sudetenland, claiming that it was “ethnically German” and as such should be considered part of the greater Reich. Today it is Putin, Ukraine and “ethnically Russian”. This time round there is, of course, one crucial difference. For those Jews who fear for their future, there is Israel to flee to. And with Russia having pushed vast amounts of antisemitic propaganda against the Ukrainian president, it is no wonder that so many are doing so. 

In 1938, the Allies thought Hitler would be pacified if they conceded the Sudetenland. At Munich, a sovereign state was dismembered with the Allies’ complicity. The lesson was then learned at a terrible cost that appeasing tyranny does nothing but enable tyrants to prosper. Today, the West talks a good game of standing up to Putin but, as Ben Wallace, the defence secretary, observed last week, there was “the whiff of Munich” about some of the initial attempts to persuade Putin not to invade.

Since it became clear that Putin was not bluffing, the sanctions rhetoric has grown stronger. But to date, those that have been proposed are not remotely enough to force Putin back. It is no good simply targeting individual Russians, however closely they are connected to the regime. If sanctions are to have any chance of working, they have to hit Russia itself hard and deep. The real issue is not how badly serious sanctions will hurt us; it is how catastrophic it would be if Putin is able to invade a sovereign state with impunity. We cannot afford not to impose biting sanctions. This is our 1938. We must act to make sure this time there is a different outcome, as Jews of all people well understand