The Department for Research and Information on Antisemitism (RIAS), a monitor group tracking antisemitism in Germany, announced in its annual report on Tuesday that Germany saw 2,480 antisemitism incidents last year. The report findings indicate there are almost seven incidents per day, on average.
RIAS stated that its reporting offices documented 9 incidents of extreme violence, 56 assaults, 186 cases of targeted damage of property, 72 threats, 1,912 cases of abusive behavior, and 245 mass mailings promoting antisemitism in 2022. Cases of extreme violence include a May 2022 arson attack on the cemetery of the Cologne synagogue community in Cologne, Germany and the December 2022 smashing of the window of a synagogue in Ermreuth, Germany.
In addition, 61 percent of assaults were classified as antisemitic othering, with victims being addressed as not belonging to the respective imagined in-group or confronted on the basis of their (assumed or actual) Jewishness. For example, in May 2022, a couple–one of whom recognized as Jewish–traveling in a car was blocked by another car and afterwards pursued to a car park, where they were insulted and threatened with violence.
While the total number of antisemitic incidents recorded in 2022 was approximately 11 percent lower than that in 2021, the total number of antisemitic incidents reported in 2022 is still 26 percent higher as compared to 2020. RIAS also said that antisemitic incidents victimize individuals. In 2022, 961 and 557 antisemitic incidents affected institutions and individuals, respectively. Jewish or Israeli persons were affected in 313 of such cases.
Head of RIAS Benjamin Steinitz told the Associated Press, “[I]t is everyday situations in which Jews are confronted with antisemitism.” According to RIAS’ annual report, such incidents frequently occur in places that affected persons regularly visit in their everyday lives. Furthermore, these antisemitic incidents are associated with political backgrounds and commonly include Holocaust trivialization, in which German Nazis murdered about 6 million European Jewish people.
In light of antisemitic incidents, Felix Klein, the Federal Government Commissioner for Jewish Life in Germany and the Fight against Antisemitism, pointed to antisemitic incidents in the cultural sector of Germany and reiterated the fact that “many anti-Semitic incidents also occur below the threshold of public attention in the cultural sector – as in other parts of social life, they are part of everyday life for Jews.” Moreover, he espoused that his primary aim is to raise awareness of antisemitism among the public and encourage them to participate in combating antisemitism.
