exclusive
There have been dozens of cases of anti-Semitic attacks in Germany since the Hamas attack on Israel. Jewish institutions were targeted several times. An evaluation by the BKA enables an initial picture of the situation.
In at least three cases, the crimes were directly directed against religious institutions. In Berlin, unknown people tried to carry out an arson attack on a synagogue. They threw Molotov cocktails at a building that also houses a primary school and a daycare center. In Aachen, an Iraqi tried to break the window of a synagogue. In Westerstede near Oldenburg, a gravestone was knocked over in the Jewish cemetery. The police have not yet identified a suspect.
In many cases, attacks were apparently directed against residential buildings. Renner therefore calls for neighborhoods to stand together and show solidarity in the face of anti-Semitic attacks. Approaching those affected and specifically asking how protection can be improved is more than symbolic.
Attacks should be viewed as support for terrorism
According to the BKA evaluation, there were numerous anti-Semitic property damages in Germany shortly after the Hamas attack on Israel. In particular, the security authorities need to take a closer look at the anti-Semitic attacks on October 7th and 8th, demands Renner in an interview Contrasts. “Because these were committed immediately during Hamas’s large-scale terrorist attack, they should be considered support for terrorism and nothing else.”
What is striking is the uneven distribution of recorded cases. According to the BKA analysis, in the first week after the terrorist attack, the property damage occurred primarily in Berlin. It was only from mid-October that the crimes were more evenly distributed across the Federal Republic.
According to the BKA evaluation, the capital remained the focal point until November 3rd with 35 of a total of 80 recorded cases. In separate statistics from the Berlin police from November 6th, the rbb24 research There is even talk of 57 anti-Semitic cases of property damage and 76 other anti-Semitic crimes that have been committed since the terrorist attack on Israel.
The difference shows that the BKA evaluation may provide an initial impression of the extent of anti-Semitic attacks, but does not provide a complete picture. In response to Renner’s query, the Federal Ministry of the Interior pointed out that the figures were only provisional.
Brighten the dark field
Nevertheless, the information allows initial conclusions to be drawn. According to the BKA evaluation, around one in four recorded cases of anti-Semitic property damage occurred in Baden-Württemberg. For the state’s anti-Semitism commissioner, Michael Blume, this number has to do with the fact that cases are investigated more intensively in his state than elsewhere.
“It may sound paradoxical, but the high number of cases in Baden-Württemberg is a good sign. Because we know that only a fraction of the crimes in Germany are even recorded and investigated,” said Blume in an interview with Contrasts. Representatives were therefore appointed in the public prosecutor’s office to investigate every case and shed light on the so-called dark field. “For the next few years, I therefore expect large increases in every country that is honest.”