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.
Minsk, Belarus: Holocaust memorial defaced
April 20, 2008.
Unknown perpetrators defaced the Holocaust memorial site in Slutsk, a southern part of Minsk, with swastikas and other antisemitic symbols on April 20. April 20 is the anniversary of Hitler’s birth.
Source: ynet.co.il, 04-21-2008
Liebenau (Lower Saxony), Germany: Jewish cemetery desecrated
April 19, 2008.
Unknown perpetrators knocked down six tombstones at the old Jewish cemetery in the small town of Liebenau. Two of them are broken. The Lower Saxony state police are continuing to investigate the incident.
Source: polizeipresse.de, 04-25-2008
Zhitomir, Ukraine: Gravesite desecrated
April 17, 2008.
Vandals desecrated the gravesite of Rabbi Aaron of Zhitomir. The grave’s structure was burned down and the old cemetery of Zhitomir was desecrated with antisemitic symbols.
Source: antisemitism.org, 04-17-2008
Achim (Lower Saxony), Germany: Memorial plaque stolen
April 17, 2008.
Between March 15 and 17, a memorial plaque for Achim’s former Jewish community was stolen by unknown perpetrators. According to Steffen Zorn, the head of the local building yard, the perpetrators had to use brute force in order to wrest the plaque from its mounting. The police are continuing to investigate the incident.
Source: Achimer Kurier, 04-18-2008
Frankfurt, Germany: German Muslim stands trial for an attack on a rabbi
April 17, 2008.
Sajed Aziz, a 23-year-old German Muslim, who attacked an orthodox rabbi with a knife in September 2007, has told the Frankfurt state court that he acted in self-defense. » Read more.
Germany: Right-wing offenses on the rise
April 16, 2008.
Right-wing criminal offenses in Germany are rising. According to a report by the Deutsche Bundestag (lower house German Parliament), there have been 2053 criminal offenses committed by neo-Nazis in the first two months of 2008 (there were 1774 criminal offenses during the same period last year). According to the report, 135 of the offenses were violent.
Sources: Der Tagesspiegel, 04-16-2008 and Deutsche Bundestag press release, 04-16-2008
Berlin, Germany: Controversy about the exhibition “Wall on Wall”
April 13, 2008.
The German photographer Kai Wiedenhoefer wants to mount a 300-meter-long installation of the Israeli security fence on the largest remaining section of the Berlin wall, the so-called “East Side Gallery”. The installation consists of 50 photographs showing Palestinian children and women face to face with Israeli soldiers and security facilities. There will be no pictures of victims of Palestinian suicide bombers.
Sources: spme.net, 05-01-2008; jpost.com, 05-01-2008; hagalil.com, 04-15-2008
Berlin, Germany: “Train of Commemoration” stops in Berlin Ostbahnhof
April 13, 2008.
The “Train of Commemoration” (“Zug der Erinnerung”) arrived in Berlin on April 13. The train is a traveling memorial to the Jews deported and killed in the Third Reich. The Deutsche Bahn, Germany’s state-owned rail operator, refused to allow the train to halt in the Hauptbahnhof, the capital’s central station. Finally, after protests by German politicians such as Berlin’s mayor Klaus Wowereit and by the Central Council of Jews in Germany and the International Auschwitz Committee, the Deutsche Bahn offered instead to allow the Train to halt at Ostbahnhof, located in eastern Berlin. » Read more.
Lodz, Poland: Antisemitic incident in soccer
April 11, 2008.
On April 11, Polish footballer Arkadiusz Mysona from the club LKS Lodz wore a shirt that bore the words “Jewish Whore” during a match against Widzew in the first Polish league. Mysona is blocked from further games until May 5.
Sources: sport1.de, 04-30-2008, ynet.co.il 04-28-2008
Vladivostok, Russia: Synagogue vandalized
April 05, 2008.
Unknown perpetrators painted a swastika and other antisemitic symbols on the door of a synagogue in Vladivostok. The police are conducting an inquiry into the incident.
Source: UCSJ, 04-05-2008
Berlin, Germany: Protests against employee of the Federal Agency for Civic Education
April 04, 2008.
The Jewish Community of Berlin and the Coordinating Council of German Non-Governmental Organizations Against Antisemitism have urged Germany’s Interior Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble to intervene against Dr. Ludwig Watzal, an employee of the Federal Agency for Civic Education (Bundeszentrale für politische Bildung).» Read more.
London, Britain: Jewish cemetery desecrated
April 03, 2008.
Vandals damaged between 30 and 40 gravestones and tombs at Plashet Cemetry in east London
Source: www.somethingjewish.co.uk , 04-03-2008
Riga, Latvia: Antisemitic literature sold openly
April 03, 2008.
According to the Union of Councils for Jews in the Former Soviet Union (UCSJ) antisemitic literature like the “The Protocols of the Elders of Zion” is being openly sold in a bookstore in Riga. Latvia has a law that bans the incitement of ethnic hatred.
Source: UCSJ, 04-03-2008
London, England: Jewish cemetery desecrated
April 03, 2008.
Vandals damaged between 30 and 40 gravestones and tombs at Plashet Cemetery in East London
Source: www.somethingjewish.co.uk , 04-03-2008
Berlin, Germany: New attempt to ban far-right NPD seems to have failed
April 01, 2008.
Germany’s second attempt to ban the National Democratic Party (NPD) seems to have failed due to the fact that a number of states ruled by Angela Merkel’s Christian Democratic Union (CDU) are refusing to cooperate in opening a trial against the party. » Read more.
Sumy, Ukraine: Blood libel
March 31, 2008.
An unknown perpetrator put up dozens of posters in the town of Sumy accusing Jews of ritually murdering Christian children. On the posters was written: "As before, these dangerous people perform their rituals, kidnapping small children and using their blood for the preparation of their holy bread."
Source: UCSJ, 03-31-2008
Halle (Saxony-Anhalt), Germany: Antisemitism in soccer
March 29, 2008.
On March 29, spectators at a match between Hallescher FC and Carl Zeiss Jena in the fourth division (Oberliga) of the German soccer league roared antisemitic songs.» Read more.
Berlin, Germany: Antisemitism in soccer
March 29, 2008.
On March 29, two spectators (38 and 58 years old) insulted the players of the Jewish sports club TuS Makkabi Berlin during a match in Adlershof, a district of Berlin. According to a police report, the two spectators had been roaring antisemitic slogans. One of them made the “Hitler Salute”. The chairman of TuS Makkabi, Tuvia Schlesinger, said in a newspaper interview some weeks ago that he is worried about the increasing antisemitism in amateur football.
Sources: Tageszeitung, 04-01-2008 and Welt Online, 03-31-2008
Berlin, Germany: Antisemitism in an art exhibition
March 25, 2008.
The deputy chairman of Germany’s Christian Democratic Union (CDU) faction in the Berlin House of Representatives, Michael Braun, criticized posters and paintings in an art exhibition in the Gallery North (Galerie Nord), which is run by the Tiergarten Art Association (Kunstverein Tiergarten), as being antisemitic. » Read more.
Rostock, Germany: Jewish cemetery desecrated
March 22, 2008.
Between March 22 and 24, unknown perpetrators desecrated the central memorial stone, showing a Menorah, of the old Jewish cemetery in Rostock several times with the symbol “C-18”. C-18 stands for “Combat 18”, the "armed wing" of the British neo-Nazi organization Blood & Honour, which is banned in Germany. The "18" in their name is commonly used by neo-Nazi groups, and is derived from the initials of Adolf Hitler; A and H are the first and eighth letters of the Latin alphabet.
Source: Ad-Hoc-News.de, 03-24-2008 and endstation-rechts.de, 03-24-2008
