German Jews are becoming increasingly worried that they are again being regarded as foreigners in their own country, according to the leader of Germany’s Jewish community.
During a recent interview with the German weekly Deutsche Sonntagsblatt, Ignatz Bubis, chairman of the Federation of Jewish Communities in Germany, said that anti-Semitism has ceased to be a taboo in Germany.
He said that German Jews have been increasingly uneasy following the March 25 firebombing of a synagogue in the northern port town of Lubeck.
The attack, in connection with which police last week arrested four suspects, was the first firebombing of a German synagogue since Kristallnacht, in November 1938.
During the interview, Bubis said he was receiving more anti-Semitic mail than ever before.
He noted that he used to receive one anti-Semitic piece of mail for every 20 positive letters, but that now anti-Semitic material comprises one-third of his mail.
Bubis voiced the opinion that German youths are far less anti-Semitic than Germany’s older generation.
He also noted that many Germans consider Jews living in their communities to be foreigners.
As an example, he pointed to a recent remark by the mayor of the western city of Essen, who referred to the local Jewish community as “the Israeli community.”
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The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
