German store sign banning Jews sparks wide condemnation, police action

A sign in a German shop banning Jews is drawing outrage from locals and officials and being compared to messages seen on German streets during the Third Reich.

“JEWS are banned from here!!!!,” read the sign in Flensburg, which has since been taken down after a number of complaints to police. “Nothing personal. Not even antisemitism. I just can’t stand you.”

Israel’s ambassador to Germany Ron Prosor writes on X that “The 1930s are back,” expressing hopes that Jews and all other groups stay away from the store. “It’s the same old hatred, just in a different font.”

Die 30er-Jahre sind zurück!

In Flensburg hängt wieder „Juden verboten“ im Schaufenster – im Jahr 2025. Wie damals in den Straßen, Cafés und Geschäften der 1930er.

Genau so hat es angefangen – Schritt für Schritt, Schild für Schild. Es ist der gleiche alte Hass, nur in einer… pic.twitter.com/seZmJ4OPsv

— Ambassador Ron Prosor (@Ron_Prosor) September 18, 2025

Germany’s antisemitism commissioner Felix Klein tells Die Welt that “This is anti-Semitism in its purest form, and of course, there are direct references to the Nazi era, when Jews were boycotted and there were many such signs.”

Other local and federal officials also condemn the sign, and an investigation has been opened by the public prosecutor’s office, the German news outlet reports.

The sign was first noticed on Wednesday afternoon. By Thursday, it had been taken down, with the storefront now featuring scrawled signs reading “Fuck Nazis” and Nazis Out” among other sentiments, local media report.

The owner of the shop, which sells books and gothic antiques, is quoted as defending the sign in the Schleswig-Holsteinische Zeitungsverlag, saying he put it up in response to the war in Gaza.

“Jews live in Israel, and I can’t tell between them who are for and against the attacks [on Gaza],” he is quoted as saying.