Antisemitism in 21st-century Germany

Antisemitism is a growing problem in 21st-century Germany.

Definition

See also: Anti-antisemitism in Germany

In May 2016, a new definition of antisemitism (the Working Definition of Antisemitism) was agreed upon at the Berlin-based International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) Conference, stating that "holding Jews collectively responsible for actions of the state of Israel" is antisemitic.

Context

In 1998, Ignatz Bubis, a leader of the German Jewish community, pointed to a "spreading intellectual nationalism" that made him fear a revival of German antisemitism. Others point to Germany's growing Muslim population, both the Turkish "guest workers" who began to arrive in the 1950s, and the large wave of migrants from Muslim countries who arrived during the European migrant crisis that began in 2015. In 2002, the historian Julius Schoeps said that "resolutions by the German parliament to reject antisemitism are drivel of the worst kind" and "all those ineffective actions are presented to the world as a strong defense against the charge of antisemitism. The truth is: no one is really interested in these matters. No one really cares."

Extent

A 2012 poll showed that 18% of the Turks in Germany think of Jews as inferior human beings. A similar study found that most of Germany's native born Muslim youth and children of immigrants have antisemitic views.

In 2014, antisemitic activities in Germany prompted the German Chancellor Angela Merkel to lead a rally in Berlin against antisemitism in Germany. In that same year, about 3,500 people rallied in front of the Frankfurt City Hall to protest against a wave of antisemitic incidents in Germany. A few hundred of the protesters were from the Kurdish-Israeli Friendship Association. According to the JTA, "Merkel expressed her support for the event in a letter."

The number of crimes against Jews and Jewish institutions continued to increase in 2018. In a 2018 survey conducted by the European Union, 85% of Jewish respondents in Germany said that antisemitism was a "very big" or "fairly big" issue, and 89% said that antisemitism had become a worse problem in the last five years. In February 2019, crime data released by the government for 2018 and published in Der Tagesspiegel showed a yearly increase of 10%, with 1,646 crimes linked to a hatred of Jews in 2018, with the totals not finalised as yet. There was a 60% rise in physical attacks (62 violent incidents, vs 37 in 2017). Germany also reported a new record of cases linked to hatred of Jews in 2020, with 2,275 crimes with an antisemitic background until the end of January 2021.

Perpetrators of antisemitistic verbal harassment and physical assault. Characterisation of antisemitic attackers as reported by Jewish victims. An attacker may belong to more than 1 group.

A June 2024 survey found that antisemitism in Germany was very high, citing an enormity of "extreme violence", with as much as an 83% spike in antisemitic incidents when compared to the preceding year. In 2023 alone, 5,164 antisemitic offenses were recorded by the Federal Police. Furthermore, according to RIAS reporting and support network, since 7 October 2023, there has been an average of 32 antisemetic incidents per day in Germany, up from an average of seven in 2022.

Characteristics of antisemites in Germany

Antisemitic demonstrator in Berlin with Nazi tattoos on arm

As per German police statistics, over 90 percent of antisemitic incidents are committed by "followers of the far right". However, government officials and Jewish community leaders doubt the figure, because cases with unknown perpetrators and some kinds of attacks get automatically classified as "far right".

A 2017 study on Jewish perspectives on antisemitism in Germany by Bielefeld University found that individuals and groups belonging to the extreme right and extreme left were equally represented as perpetrators of antisemitic harassment and assault, while the largest part of the attacks were committed by Muslim assailants. The study also found that 70% of the participants feared a rise in antisemitism due to immigration, citing the antisemitic views of some of the refugees. A study among Jews, published by the European Union in 2018, has also listed Muslims as the biggest perpetrators of antisemitic incidents in Germany. 41% of such attacks were committed by extremist Muslims, 20% by far-right and 16% by far-left extremists. In its 2017 summary, the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution (BfV) concluded that antisemitic rhetoric spread by Islamist organizations posed a significant challenge to the contemporary peaceful and tolerant society of Germany.

Incidents

In January 2017, a German court in Wuppertal upheld the 2015 decision of a lower court which deemed an attempt by three Muslim attackers to burn down a synagogue in 2014 on the anniversary of the Kristallnacht "a means of drawing attention to the Gaza conflict with Israel". The offenders were not sent to prison. The German regional court ruled that the actions of the three perpetrators were "governed by anti-Israelism and not antisemitism". The attackers subsequently received suspended sentences. Green Party MP Volker Beck protested the ruling, saying: "This is a decision as far as the motives of the perpetrators are concerned. What do Jews in Germany have to do with the Middle East conflict? Every bit as much as Christians, non-religious people or Muslims in Germany, namely, absolutely nothing. The ignorance of the judiciary toward antisemitism is for many Jews in Germany especially alarming."

Dr. Moshe Kantor, president of the European Jewish Congress, said:

It is unbelievable that attempts to burn a synagogue have been equated with displeasure of Israeli government policies...This has now given a carte blanche to antisemites across Germany to attack Jews because a German court has given them a ready justification.

In 2018, an Arab Israeli who wore a kippah was assaulted. The incident was recorded and the video went viral.

In 2018, the Echo Music Prize was awarded to rappers who featured antisemitic clichés in their lyrics. As a result of protests from artists and the press, the award was discontinued.

On 9 October 2019, a lone gunman attacked a synagogue in Halle during the Yom Kippur, while two doors of the synagogue were damaged when improvised explosives set off. The attacker shot dead a man and a woman near a Turkish kebab shop.

In September 2021, German police averted a possible Islamic attack on a synagogue in Hagen during Yom Kippur services, arresting four people including a 16-year-old Syrian youth.

During an April 2023 pro-Palestine protest, observers recorded numerous antisemitic chants, including "Death to the Jews". The Berlin Police have confirmed they are investigating charges of Volksverhetzung; two pro-Palestine rallies planned for the following weekend were cancelled.

On 18 October 2023, 11 days after the Hamas-led October 7 massacres that killed over 1,200, a Berlin synagogue was firebombed with molotovs following the 2023 Israel–Hamas war by two masked men. Since the escalation of the Israel–Hamas war in October 2023, there has been a surge in antisemitic incidents on a scale unseen in years.

On 2 February 2024, a pro-Palestinian college student in Berlin assaulted a Jewish classmate to the point of hospitalization following an altercation over the Israel-Hamas war. According to the German police, the Jewish student was punched repeatedly in the face until he fell to the ground after which was he was kicked while lying on the floor. The attackers subsequently fled the scene. The victim suffered facial fractures, while the attacker was located and arrested. The victim is reportedly the grandson of Amitzur Shapira, an Israeli athletics coach murdered by the Black September terrorists in the 1972 Munich massacre.

On 5 April 2024, an unknown individual threw an incendiary device at the door of a synagogue in the northern city of Oldenburg, causing a small blaze and minor damage. German police have offered a cash reward for information about the arson attack.

According to a Jewish Independent article on 21 May 2024, Jewish parents living in Berlin's suburbs started enrolling their kids at Jewish schools in Mitte, Berlin due to fears of rising antisemitism. The children of the parents concerned are enrolled at the schools closest to where they live, but they passed up the automatic registration for their children's local high school in favour of sending them to a school far from their place of residence for the alleged reason that it was protected by an Israeli guard, German policemen and an enclosed wall, while there are usually no guards at Berlin schools.

In late June 2024, an Israeli couple in their early 20s was assaulted in Berlin's Potsdamer Platz after being heard speaking Hebrew by an Arabic speaking assailant. The assailant shouted abuses at them, threw a bottle and a chair at the woman, followed by punches on the man who rose in her defense. The assailant fled the scene afterwards.

On 5 September 2024, the 52nd anniversary of the 1972 Munich massacre, a suspected terrorist opened fire at the Israeli consulate and adjacent Nazi Documentation Centre in Munich before being shot dead by police.

In August 2024, German Senator Joseph Chialo was attacked by pro-Palestinian protesters following his initiative to stop funding organizations working to present antisemitic content in the country. Following this attack, Dr. Felix Klein, Germany's Federal Government Commissioner for Jewish Life in Germany and the Fight against Antisemitism, expressed concern about the "tsunami" of hostility toward Jews since October 7, the worst it has been since 1945.

On 7 October 2024, 10 memorial stones engraved with details of certain Holocaust victims, were torn from their spots. The day was also the first anniversary of the Hamas-led October 7 massacre. Authorities suspected the vandalism to have been carried out by immigrants from Muslim-majority countries.

Responses

In October 2024, Felix Klein, Germany's Commissioner for Jewish Life and the Fight against Antisemitism, said that "open and aggressive antisemitism", which is a "poison for social cohesion", was "stronger than at any time since 1945". Also in October 2024, Thomas Strobl, Interior Minister of Baden-Württemberg, reassured the Jewish community that they will be protected amid rising antisemitism.

See also

• Secondary antisemitism
• Antisemitism in Europe
• Timeline of antisemitism in the 21st century
• Antisemitism in 21st-century France
• Antisemitism in 21st-century Italy
• Antisemitism in contemporary Austria
• Antisemitism in contemporary Belgium
• Antisemitism in contemporary Hungary
• Geography of antisemitism
• Germany–Israel relations