German FM calls to fight anti-Semitism to avoid Jewish exodus

BERLIN — Germany’s foreign minister is calling for strengthened efforts against anti-Semitism to ward off the possibility that many Jews decide to leave the country.

Heiko Maas says in an article for the weekly Der Spiegel that German politicians must do more “but there is one thing they can’t do: replace solidarity in everyday life.”

Maas’ comments come a day before the 75th anniversary of the Soviet liberation of the Nazis’ Auschwitz death camp and at a time of rising concern in Germany and elsewhere in Europe about anti-Semitism.

In October, a man tried to force his way into a synagogue in Halle on Judaism’s holiest day, later killing two passers-by before being arrested. The suspect posted an anti-Jewish screed before the attack.

Maas says anti-Semitism has become part of everyday life now for Jews in Germany and “it doesn’t surprise me that nearly every second Jew in Germany has thought about leaving the country.”

“We must urgently take countermeasures so that such thoughts don’t turn into bitter reality and it doesn’t come to a massive exodus of Jews from Germany,” he writes. “That people of Jewish faith no longer feel at home here is a real nightmare — and a disgrace, 75 years after the liberation of Auschwitz.”

Maas says too few European Union countries have national commissioners against anti-Semitism. He says when Germany holds the EU presidency later this year, it will step up the fight against online hate and disinformation.

He says the security of Jewish facilities and communities must be improved throughout Europe. Germany will give the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe 500,000 euros ($551,000) this year to that end.

— AP