The owner of a German shop which put up a sign saying ‘Jews are banned’ has said he is not an extremist after public outcry.
Hans Velten Reisch, 60, owns and operates a small shop in Flensburg, and put up the sign reading ‘Jews are banned from here! Nothing personal. No antisemitism. Just can’t stand you’ last week.
Police were alerted to the shocking sign shortly after it was put up, and protesters have since defaced the front of the shop.
Though the sign has since been removed from the front window, it’s still hanging on a wall inside of the store.
Flensburg Mayor Fabian Geyer said: ‘This is a reminder of the darkest chapters of Germany’s history and has absolutely no place in this city.’
Despite the outrage, Reisch said he isn’t an extremist, and described himself as ‘a little to the left, a little to the right – but not radical’ when speaking to forde.news.
He said: ‘Today, you’re already a Nazi if you order a gypsy schnitzel.’
The shopowner said he put up the sign in opposition of those who support the war in Israel.
‘I don’t need people like that here – neither in business nor in private,’ he emphasised.
But he did say that Jews who distance themself from the war in Gaza are welcome to have a coffee as well, and he has ‘nothing against them’.
The sign is still sparking anger in Germany, prompting a response from many political parties as well.
The Flensburg Green Party said it was a ‘clear expression of antisemitism’.
State parliament member Kianusch Stender said: ‘We are an open, colourful city that has a duty, based on its historical responsibility alone, to take a stand against anti-Semitism everywhere and at all times.’
In London this month, a group of synagogues targeted by antisemitic vandalism have said they ‘fear for their safety’ and called for bolstered security measures.
The synagogue in Golders Green, London, was one of the Jewish targets of a man who daubed faeces and hurled urine across buildings.
The police and Mayor Sadiq Khan have condemned the vandalism and vowed to crack down on racially aggravated crime.
A Jewish nursery school was among the buildings hit in a string of four connected incidents of vandalism.
Faeces and urine were flung at the sites, with worshippers and schoolchildren confronted by the filthy aftermath of the attacks.
A member of one of the synagogues targeted close to the centre of Golders Green told Metro there were heightened fears over safety amid the escalating crisis in Gaza amid the Israel-Hamas war.
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