Incidents and Controversies
This list of antisemitic incidents in Europe provides readers with an overview of incidents and controversies all over Europe. It is definitely not complete and to some extent unbalanced, i.e., some countries are better represented than others. However, that does not mean antisemitism is more virulent in countries that are more present in this list; it is simply better monitored there. You can help improve monitoring by reporting incidents that have occurred in your country to the Forum.
Manchester, Britain: Union encourages Israel boycott
May 28, 2008.
During their annual conference in Manchester on May 28, the University and College Union (UCU), the largest labor union for academics and teachers in the UK, voted on a motion that will reintroduce an academic boycott of Israel, which passed without debate. According to anti-boycott activists the motion demands that Jewish and Israeli academics explain their politics as a precondition to normal academic contact. Since 2004, far-Left sections of academic trade unions have been calling for a boycott of Israeli academia.
Source: The Jerusalem Post, 05-29-2008
Germany: German Physician’s Union (BDI) honored a former Nazi doctor for his achievements
May 26, 2008.
The BDI, a German physicians’ union, awarded former SS member Dr. Hans-Joachim Sewering the highest honor. The 92-year-old doctor received a medal and was praised for his medical achievement. » Read more.
Germany: The National Democratic Party (NPD) appoints Holocaust denier as vice president
May 25, 2008.
The National Democratic Party (NPD), Germany’s main far-right party, appointed neo-Nazi Jürgen Rieger, a lawyer who has advised and defended neo-Nazis, as its vice president. Jürgen Rieger is known as one of the most active Holocaust deniers in Germany.
Source: Deutsche Welle, dw-world.de, 05-25-2008
Berlin, Germany: Holocaust memorial besmirched
May 22, 2008.
Unknown perpetrators painted a swastika and other Nazi symbols on one slab of the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe in downtown Berlin on May 22. A security service worker found the symbols that evening. The Holocaust memorial is the central memorial in Germany commemorating the Jewish victims of the Holocaust.
Source: Die Welt, 05-23-2008
Paris, France: France 2 network loses libel case against Philippe Karsenty
May 21, 2008.
A Parisian appeals court ruled in favor of media watchdog Philipp Karsenty, accused of libel by television channel France 2. The court overturned the libel verdict that France 2 won earlier.» Read more.
Germany: German Postal Service prints 20 Rudolf Hess Stamps
May 21, 2008.
Neo-Nazis in Germany used the personalized stamp service from the German postal service (Deutsche Post) to create 20 stamps with the picture of Adolf Hitler’s deputy Rudolf Hess.» Read more.
Salavat, Russia (Republic of Bashkortostan): Attack on Jewish community
May 19, 2008.
Drunken youths tried to break into the Jewish community center in Salavat during a religious service by banging metal pipes on the door of the community center. The police were able to detain the youths.
Source: UCSJ, 05-19-2008
Nizhniy Novgorod, Russia: Jewish cemetery desecrated
May 17, 2008.
According to the Union of Councils for Jews in the Former Soviet Union (UCSJ), unknown perpetrators vandalized three graves in the Maryina Roshcha cemetery in Nizhniy Novgorod. Among the desecrated graves was that of Luda Bershteyn, a former chief rabbi of the city.
Source: UCSJ, 05-17-2008
Tuam, Ireland: Antisemitic graffiti
May 15, 2008.
Antisemitic slogans have been smeared on the home of a Jewish couple in Tuam, Ireland. The driveway wall and the windows were defaced with swastikas and the slur “Go Home Jew”.
Source: independent.ie, 05-15-2008
London, England: Synagogue smeared with antisemitic graffiti
May 13, 2008.
Unknown perpetrators smeared the pavements and walls outside of four synagogues in Clapton Common and Stamford Hill with slogans such as “Jihad to Israel” and “Jihad to Tel Aviv”.
Source: thisislondon.co.uk, 05-14-2008
Tula, Russia: Antisemitic violence
May 12, 2008.
According to the Union of Councils for Jews in the Former Soviet Union (UCSJ), three neo-Nazis attacked two Jews in Tula near the city’s Jewish community center. One of them was armed with a shovel. The attackers were detained by the police.
Source: UCSJ, 05-12-2008
Warka, Poland: Orthodox American Jew attacked at a cemetery
May 09, 2008.
According to the European Jewish Press (EJP) 19-year-old Asa Yitzchak Baitch from Ann Arbor, a city near Detroit, was attacked by a group of twenty teenagers when he was visiting the mausoleum commemorating Hassidic Rabbi Yitzhak Kalish. » Read more.
Boizenberg, Germany: Memorial stone vandalized
May 08, 2008.
Unknown perpetrators vandalized a memorial stone for the prisoners of the concentration camp Neuengamme during the night of May 7/8. They damaged the memorial stone and defaced it with a swastika and other fascist symbols. The police are continuing to investigate the incident.
Source: Endstation Rechts, 05-13-2008
Hildburghausen (Thuringia), Germany: Memorial plaques defaced
May 08, 2008.
During the night of May 7/8, unknown perpetrators defaced a memorial of “Stolpersteine” for Jewish inhabitants of Hildburghausen who were murdered in the Shoah with antisemitic slogans and swastikas. The Stolpersteine (“stumbling blocks”, brass memorials resembling cobblestones set into the sidewalk) had been installed three days before.
Source: ddp, 05-08-2008
Berlin, Germany: Jewish cemetery vandalized for the second time in less than three days
April 30, 2008.
On April 30, the police discovered more desecrated graves at the Jewish cemetery in Berlin Weissensee. According to a police report, presumably the same perpetrators sneaked into the cemetery a second time and destroyed at least 20 graves. » Read more.
Bolgrad, Ukraine: Jewish cemetery desecrated
April 28, 2008.
Unknown perpetrators damaged eleven gravestones at a Jewish cemetery in the town of Bolgrad, near Odessa.
Source: UCSJ, 04-28-2008
Berlin, Germany: Jewish cemetery vandalized
April 28, 2008.
During the night of April 28/29, unknown perpetrators knocked down 23 headstones and 10 short pillars at the Jewish cemetery in the eastern Berlin district Weissensee. The cemetery is one of Europe’s largest Jewish cemeteries and was opened in 1880.
Source: Spiegel Online, 04-29-2008
Batumi, Georgia (Adjaran Autonomous Republic): Jewish cemetery vandalized
April 26, 2008.
During the night of April 25/26, unknown perpetrators vandalized the Jewish cemetery outside Batumi in the Adjaran Autonomous Republic. A headstone was also desecrated with a swastika.
Source: Civil.Ge, 05-01-2008
Rostock, Germany: Exposition promotes antisemitic literature
April 25, 2008.
Between April 25 and 27, antisemitic literature was sold at an exposition of esotericism and naturopathy (Esoterik und Naturheiltage) in Rostock. Books by the notorious antisemitic conspiracy theorists Jan Udo Holey, Stefan Erdmann and Trutz Hardo were sold.» Read more.
Berlin, Germany: 30 Jewish cemeteries desecrated in 2007
April 21, 2008.
According to the Federal Ministry of the Interior, 30 Jewish cemeteries were desecrated in 2007. Only four of the cases could be solved.
Source: Tagesspiegel, 04-23-2008
