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.”
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.
