West German police have tightened security around Jewish institutions throughout the country. In reaction to the recent synagogue attack in Vienna and intelligence obtained by the security services, police guards were posted outside of all houses of worship as Rosh Hashanah was observed. Other police units patroled the streets in the vicinity of synagogues and other Jewish buildings.
It was reported from Geneva meanwhile that similar tight security measures were taken at synagogues and other Jewish premises in Switzerland over the High Holy Days. Nevertheless, a number of Jewish families, apprehensive in the aftermath of the terrorist attack in Vienna, did not attend synagogue this week.
In an unrelated matter, the Allied authorities in West Berlin have renewed their long-standing ban on the neo-Nazi National Democratic Party (NPD). It applies to party meetings, congresses and propaganda and is valid until the end of March, 1982. Despite the ban, the NPD has continued its activities in West Berlin during the year, and a number of arrests have been made. Police reported an increase of anti-Semitic incidents such as desecrations of Jewish cemeteries and threats against local Jewish leaders.
While Berlin’s special status allows the Allied powers to ban the NPD it operates freely in the Federal Republic. West German officials say that a ban would not stand the legal test before the country’s constitutional court.
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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.
