German Shop Owner’s Anti-Jewish Sign Sparks Outrage and Raises Questions About Antisemitism in Germany

In a disturbing incident that has shocked local officials, a shop owner in the northern German city of Flensburg posted a sign explicitly banning Jewish people from entering his store. Hans-Velten Reisch, the 60-year-old proprietor of a Gothic utensils and technical literature shop, displayed a notice reading, “Jews are banned from entering here! Nothing personal. No antisemitism. Just can’t stand you.” This blatant act of discrimination has triggered immediate backlash from state officials and reignited concerns about rising antisemitism in Germany, a country still grappling with its Nazi past. When questioned by Germany’s largest daily newspaper, Bild, Reisch attempted to justify his actions by claiming they were prompted by news coverage of the Israel-Gaza conflict. “I watch the news every evening. And when I saw what the Jews were doing in the Gaza Strip, I lost my temper and printed out the poster,” he explained, seemingly conflating all Jewish people with the actions of the Israeli government. This rationalization reflects a troubling pattern where criticism of Israeli policy transforms into broad antisemitic sentiment targeting Jewish people as a whole, regardless of their connection to Israel’s military actions.

The incident provoked swift condemnation from Schleswig-Holstein’s Minister of Culture Dorit Stenke and the state’s antisemitism commissioner Gerhard Ulrich, who issued a joint statement denouncing the sign. “A sign that denies Jews access to a store is a frightening signal and an attack on the principles of our free coexistence,” Stenke declared, emphasizing that such behavior threatens democratic values. “We cannot allow such things to continue in our society and must take decisive action against it together. Antisemitism is a threat to our democracy and must not be tolerated in any form.” Ulrich added that “We must stand together against every form of antisemitism,” noting Germany’s “special responsibility” in combating such hatred given its historical context. The state prosecutor has launched an investigation against Reisch for incitement of hatred, with Ulrich personally filing one of five criminal complaints against the shop owner. The case has particular resonance in Germany, where laws against hate speech and Holocaust denial reflect the country’s commitment to preventing the resurrection of Nazi-era antisemitism.

This incident doesn’t stand in isolation but reflects a disturbing trend in the region. According to officials, Schleswig-Holstein has witnessed a dramatic 390 percent increase in antisemitic incidents in 2024, with 588 documented cases compared to the previous year. This surge aligns with global patterns of increased antisemitism following the October 7, 2023 Hamas attack on Israel and the subsequent Israeli military response in Gaza. The conflict has often been misused as justification for targeting Jewish communities worldwide, conflating political criticism with ethnic and religious hatred. Ulrich specifically noted that “Antisemitic hate speech like this not only hurts those affected, but also disrupts public peace. The Flensburg incident, with its contemptuous rhetoric, is fatally reminiscent of the Nazi hate speech against Jews.” The comparison to Nazi-era discrimination is particularly poignant, as the sign’s language echoes the “Juden verboten” (Jews forbidden) signs that proliferated across Germany during the Third Reich, representing one of history’s darkest chapters.

Interestingly, the case reveals additional complexity through the controversial background of Ulrich himself, the state’s antisemitism commissioner now leading the charge against Reisch. In December 2022, Rabbi Abraham Cooper of the Simon Wiesenthal Center called for Ulrich’s dismissal, claiming he “is unfit to denounce the very antisemitism that he unfortunately legitimized and helped to spread in the mainstream of German society.” These allegations stem from Ulrich’s previous role as Protestant Church Bishop for northern Germany, during which he made statements criticized as antisemitic or anti-Israel. Among these controversial comments, Ulrich once said, “The name ‘Israel’ is burdened with the horror and misery of this Middle East war,” and compared Israel’s security barrier to the Berlin Wall, suggesting it should be dismantled. This background adds a layer of irony to the current situation, raising questions about the complex intersection of legitimate criticism of Israeli policies and antisemitic rhetoric.

The Flensburg shop incident highlights how the Israel-Gaza conflict has intensified antisemitism worldwide, with many failing to distinguish between the Israeli government’s actions and Jewish people generally. Reisch’s sign targets all Jews based on his objections to Israel’s military campaign against Hamas, which began after the terrorist organization’s attack killed over 1,200 people, including American citizens, on October 7, 2023. This failure to separate criticism of specific policies from hatred toward an entire ethnic and religious group represents a fundamental misunderstanding that fuels discrimination. Israeli officials maintain that security measures like the West Bank barrier, which Ulrich compared to the Berlin Wall, have saved thousands of lives by preventing terrorist attacks. However, criticisms of such measures, when carefully distinguished from hatred toward Jewish people, remain within the bounds of legitimate political discourse – a distinction often lost in heated rhetoric surrounding the conflict.

The Flensburg incident serves as a stark reminder of how easily antisemitism can resurface, even in Germany, a country that has worked for decades to confront its Nazi past and establish stringent protections against hate speech. Police reportedly instructed Reisch to remove the sign on Wednesday evening, and the multiple criminal complaints filed against him demonstrate Germany’s legal commitment to addressing such discrimination. Yet the incident also reveals the ongoing challenge of distinguishing between legitimate political criticism and antisemitic hatred, a distinction that becomes increasingly blurred during periods of heightened conflict in the Middle East. As Germany confronts this resurgence of antisemitism, exemplified by the shocking 390 percent increase in antisemitic incidents in Schleswig-Holstein, it must navigate complex questions about free speech, historical responsibility, and the protection of minority communities while maintaining space for nuanced political discourse. The Flensburg shop owner’s sign stands as both a disturbing individual act and a symptom of broader social tensions that continue to reverberate through German society and beyond.