Germany's Scholz 'ashamed' at antisemitism wave as 'Kristallnacht' pogrom marked

[Valin]

Reuters

Sarah Marsh and Andreas Rinke
November 9, 2023

BERLIN, Nov 9 (Reuters) - Chancellor Olaf Scholz said he was "ashamed and outraged" at a recent wave of antisemitic incidents in Germany, warning Berlin would not tolerate such anti-Jewish hatred as he marked the 85th anniversary of the Nazis' “Kristallnacht” pogrom of Jews.

Scholz was speaking at a ceremony at a Berlin synagogue to mark "Kristallnacht" alongside Jewish leaders. The synagogue was among 1,000 that were damaged or destroyed across Germany and Austria by Nazi mobs during the “Night of Broken Glass” in November 1938.

At least 91 Jews were murdered, about 7,500 Jewish businesses ransacked and some 30,000 Jewish men and boys arrested during the assaults which preceded the Holocaust, or Shoah, in which about six million Jews were killed.

The synagogue where Scholz was speaking was also attacked with Molotov cocktails in a surge of antisemitic incidents that followed the Hamas attack on Israel on Oct. 7 and the subsequent Israeli retaliation.

In the week following Hamas's attack, watchdog RIAS reported 202 antisemitic incidents in Germany related to those attacks, a 240% increase from a year ago. Police said mosques were also targeted over the same period, with as many eight receiving parcels with torn-up Koran fragments mixed with fecal matter.

"Every form of antisemitism poisons our society," said Scholz, who was wearing a kippah, the traditional Jewish cap, as is customary in a synagogue for men. "We will not tolerate it."

(Snip)