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.
Eiterfeld (Hessen), Germany: Memorial plaque stolen
March 20, 2008.
Between March 20 and 22, a memorial plaque for the former Jewish community in Eiterfeld was stolen. According to a police report some leaflets from the far-right party National Democratic Party (NPD) were found next to the site of crime. The police are continuing to investigate the incident.
Source: Fuldaerzeitung, 03-25-2008
Germany: Article rejected due to “Zionism”
March 20, 2008.
Igal Avidan, an Israeli journalist who lives in Berlin, wrote an article that was rejected by the editorial staff of Qantara.de due to “Zionism”. The article deals with Stef Wertheimer, an Israeli industrialist who was honored this year with the Buber-Rosenzweig-Medal for his commitment to the people in the Middle East. The medal is an annual prize awarded since 1968 by the Coordinating Council of Associations for Christian-Jewish Cooperation to individuals, initiatives, or institutions that have actively contributed to Christian-Jewish understanding. » Read more.
Budapest, Hungary: Antisemitic article in a Hungarian newspaper
March 19, 2008.
The Hungarian journalist Zsolt Bayer published an article in the newspaper Magyar Hirlap on March 19 with the key phrases: “In 1967, the Jewish journalists in Budapest spoke condemningly against Israel; those same journalists are now berating both the Arabs and the FIDESZ (the right-wing opposition party) – and us. Because they hate us far more than we hate them. They are our ‘justification Jews’ – their mere existence justifies antisemitism." The newspaper and the author are known as “conservative” in Hungary. The article caused a wave of protests. Over 100 Hungarian scholars signed a letter of protest sent to the newspaper owner. Gábor Demszky, the major of Budapest, said that he would sever all ties with the newspaper.
Source: Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, 05-06-2008
Novosibirsk, Russia: Blood libel fliers found
March 19, 2008.
Hundreds of blood libel fliers were found posted on homes in the city of Novosibirsk. The fliers read: “Attention Russian parents, guard your children, for the Jewish holiday Pesach approaches in April 2008.” The fliers warned: “These disgusting (people) steal young children, draw their blood and use it to prepare their holy food. The children’s bodies they throw in the garbage dumps.” The city of Novosibirsk has a Jewish population of some 13,000. The police opened an investigation into the distribution of the fliers.
Source: Jerusalem Post, 03-19-2008
Neustrelitz (Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania), Germany: Jewish cemetery desecrated
March 16, 2008.
During the night of March 15/16, unknown perpetrators pulled several gravestones from their foundations and unhinged the cemetery gate. The police are investigating the incident.
Source: Spiegel Online, 03-16-2008
Thallichtenberg (Rhineland-Palatinate), Germany: Jewish cemetery ravaged
March 11, 2008.
On March 11th, unknown perpetrators pulled 15 gravestones from their foundations and smeared memorial plaques with National Socialist symbols in a Jewish cemetery in Thallichtenberg. The police are investigating the incident.
Source: Ad-Hoc-News.de, 03-18-2008
Oranienburg (Brandenburg), Germany: Sachsenhausen national memorial defaced
March 11, 2008.
During the night of March 10/11, unknown perpetrators defaced the outer wall, a former SS- troop building, and memorial plaques in the Sachsenhausen national memorial, a former concentration camp. The police are investigating the incident.
Source: Berliner Morgenpost, 03-12-2008
Lezajsk, Poland: Grave desecrated
March 05, 2008.
Unknown perpetrators desecrated the grave of the Chasidic rabbi Elimelech Weisblum. Swastikas and antisemitic slogans were painted on the gravestone.
Source: jta.org, 03-05-2008
Berdichev, Ukraine: Grave desecrated
March 04, 2008.
Vandals violated the small mausoleum of Rabbi Levi Itzhak, who died in 1810, with swastikas and antisemitic slogans.
Source: UCSJ, 03-04-2008
Berlin, Germany: Children’s book “not antisemitic”
March 02, 2008.
The anti-religious children’s book Which Way to God? Asked the Piglet by Michael Schmidt-Salomon will not be banned. » Read more.
Koethen (Saxony-Anhalt), Germany: Jewish cemetery vandalized
February 24, 2008.
On February 24, unknown perpetrators smeared an antisemitic slogan on the wall of the Jewish cemetery in Koethen and damaged a memorial plaque. The police are investigating the incident.
Source: rbwAktuell, 02-27-08 and NPD-BLOG.INFO, 02-28-2008
Dessau (Saxony-Anhalt), Germany: Jewish cemetery desecrated
February 24, 2008.
On February 24, a wreath that lay in front of the Jewish cemetery was smeared with a swastika. The wreath was laid for a new synagogue, which opened on February 18. The police are investigating the incident.
Source: NPD-BLOG.INFO, 02-28-2008
Berlin, Germany: Holocaust Memorial defaced
February 22, 2008.
Unknown perpetrators painted a swastika and other Nazi symbols on one of the slabs of the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe in downtown Berlin. A security service worker found the symbols on February 22. The Holocaust memorial is the central memorial to the Jewish victims of the Holocaust in Germany. According to the memorial foundation’s information, 15 cases of such antisemitic graffiti have been registered since the memorial opened. The police (Staatsschutz) are investigating the incident.
Source: Tagesspiegel, 02-22-2008 and Tageszeitung of 02-25-2008
Dresden, Germany: Rightist “March of Sorrow” in Dresden
February 16, 2008.
On February 16, approximately 5000 people from the far-right political spectrum have gathered in recent years for a “March of Sorrow” that commemorates victims of the Allied Forces’ bombing of Dresden in February 1945, calling it a “bomb-Holocaust”. The march was scheduled to end at the Dresden Synagogue, but approximately 4000 counter-demonstrators hindered them from doing so.
Source: endstation-rechts.de, 02-16-2008
Ukraine: Antisemitic broadcast in Ukrainian television
February 13, 2008.
According to the Union of Councils for Jews in the Former Soviet Union (UCSJ), the Ukrainian cable channel “Antenna” broadcasted antisemitic statements for the second time this month. In the program “Events, Facts, Commentary”, political analyst Igor Mazur said that “the agenda that the Jews have is not to allow truly independent and strong states in Europe to be founded by healthy national forces. Otherwise, their power will come to an end.”
Source: UCSJ, 02-21-2008
Brest, Belarus: Holocaust Memorial set on fire
February 12, 2008.
On February 12, unknown perpetrators set fire to the flowers surrounding the Holocaust Memorial to the 34,000 Jews the Nazis murdered in Brest. The police are investigating the incident, but Boris Bruk, the head of the local Jewish community, is skeptical that they will solve the case, due to the fact that none of the many incidents of vandalism over the past several years has led to any arrests.
Source: Union of Councils for Jews in the Former Soviet Union (UCSJ), 02-14-2008
Berlin, Germany: Jewish memorial in Berlin-Steglitz vandalized
February 10, 2008.
During the night of February 9/10, a Jewish memorial in Berlin-Steglitz was vandalized. Unknown perpetrators destroyed two wreaths and a book in front of the memorial to the deported Jews from Berlin-Steglitz.
Source: Jungle World, 02-21-2008
Bruges, Belgium: American Jew kicked out of a restaurant
February 10, 2008.
On a visit to Bruges, Marcel Kalmann, a 64-year-old U.S. professor was kicked out of the restaurant “Le Panier d’Or” after the waiter saw his kippa. According to Kalmann, the waiter told him, “We don’t serve Jews, get out of here.” Later, a police officer told Kalmann that a complaint could only be registered in Flemish and not in English. Therefore, Belgian law could not follow up on the antisemitic offense.
Source: Haaretz, 02-11-2008
Ukraine: Ukrainian television show features Holocaust denier
February 07, 2008.
On February 5, the Ukrainian cable channel “Antenna” featured an interview with Kostya Zarudny, who obtained a Ph.D. in history, titled “The distorted history of the Ukraine”. During the interview on the topics of collaboration by Ukrainian nationalists with the Nazis and the fight against the USSR, Dr. Zarudny said: “We see how the lie of the Holocaust continues in the Ukraine, how once again the fantastic figure of six million is brought out, and that in the Ukraine one and a half million kikes were supposedly killed. How long is this kike lie going to brainwash us?"
Source: Union of Councils for Jews in the Former Soviet Union (UCSJ), 02-07-2008
Kaposvár, Hungary: Jewish cemetery desecrated
February 04, 2008.
Between February 2 and 3, unknown perpetrators desecrated the Jewish cemetery in Kaposvár (Somogy county). Swastikas, other neo-Fascist symbols, and the sentence “your homeland is not to be sold” were painted on the gravestones. According to the newspaper Népszabadsàg, several other Jewish cemeteries in Somogy county have also been desecrated in recent months.
Source: Caboodle.hu, 02-04-2008
