“Disgusting act”
Hate stickers at memorial, flag desecration in Frankfurt
October 29, 2023, 3:18 p.m
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Anti-Semitic crimes have been increasing massively in Germany for weeks. State security is investigating again this weekend. Anti-Semitic posters are put up in a memorial, and the Israeli flag is stolen from the town hall in Frankfurt and trampled on.
This weekend there are again anti-Semitic incidents in Germany. Unknown people put up hateful stickers at the Ahlem Memorial in Hanover. The stickers were secured on doors, the entrance sign and on the “Wall of Names” for the victims of the Holocaust. “The stickers all have political and seditious content in relation to the Middle East conflict,” explained a police spokeswoman.
The period of the crime was between Friday evening and Sunday morning, and the number of stickers was in the mid-double-digit range. The state security agency took over the investigation into sedition. Because the adhesives were easy to remove, damage to property will not be investigated. Witnesses should report to the criminal investigation service in Hanover.
The “Wall of Names” commemorate deported and killed Nazi victims. The memorial was once a Jewish horticultural school, but was later used by the National Socialists as a collection point for deportations, a prison and an execution site. “This disgusting act must be investigated and prosecuted as quickly as possible. It is disgusting and horrifying to me that 78 years after the end of the Holocaust we find such messages on our memorial site,” said regional president Steffen Krach in a statement.
Israeli flag stolen from city hall
There was also an anti-Semitic incident in Frankfurt am Main. An Israeli flag that was hung at Frankfurt City Hall was stolen during the night. A witness observed on the town hall square how a group of around ten people climbed onto a bench to get to the flag hoisted on the town hall balcony. The group reportedly tore the flag from the flagpole and trampled on it. The people then ran away with the flag towards the banks of the Main. One person from the group is said to have filmed the crime.
A Ukrainian and a Frankfurt flag, which were also hung on the Römer, remained untouched. According to the police, an immediate search was unsuccessful. The mayor of Frankfurt, Mike Josef, filed a criminal complaint. A similar act is said to have occurred on the Hanau market square a few days ago. The magistrate has filed a criminal complaint, the state security agency is investigating and evaluating video recordings. A new Israeli flag was installed immediately after the incident.
Since the massacre by the terrorist organization Hamas in Israel, there have been pro-Palestinian demonstrations and numerous anti-Semitic and anti-Israel crimes in Germany, such as the burning of Israeli flags or anti-Semitic graffiti. In Berlin alone, the police say they have already registered more than 850 crimes in the context of the Middle East conflict.
Against this background, Federal Justice Minister Marco Buschmann announced consequences for immigrants who show anti-Semitic behavior at the weekend. “We are taking precautions to prevent anti-Semites from being naturalized,” the FDP politician told “Bild am Sonntag”. In the future, the authorities responsible for naturalization should “investigate, even in the case of trivial crimes such as an insult, whether the acts were committed for anti-Semitic reasons,” he explained.