Anti-Semitic incidents up at Holocaust memorial sites in Germany

The Federal Association of Research and Information Centres on Anti-Semitism (RIAS) recorded 211 incidents including abusive language, graffiti, threats at sites linked to the Nazi reign of terror including concentration camps in 2024, nearly double the level seen in the previous year.

Figures for 2025 are not yet fully available, according to RIAS, which said that many of the incidents were motivated by far-right extremism as well as anti-Israel sentiment.

Anti-Semitic incidents at the former Sachsenhausen concentration camp just outside Berlin rose from 12 in 2022 to 52 in 2024, according to the memorial centre at the site.

One incident highlighted by RIAS took place at a site in south-western Berlin, where senior Nazi officials held an infamous meeting called the Wannsee Conference in 1942 to coordinate the planned deportation of most of Europe's Jews to death camps in eastern Europe.

Posters at the site promoting a week of action against anti-Semitism were scratched and torn with a sharp object, RIAS said.

Actions classified by the association as Israel-related anti-Semitism include guestbook entries at the memorial sites equating Israel's actions against Palestinians with crimes committed by the Nazis.

Using slogans such as "Free Palestine" in the context of memorial sites is considered by RIAS as an attempt to trivialize the unprecedented crimes of the Holocaust.

Particularly at memorial sites, anti-Semitic incidents weigh especially heavily for survivors, their descendants and Jewish communities, the association notes.

"Attacks on these sites are directed against the memory of the victims of Nazi crimes and against our fundamental democratic values," said Mihail Groys of the Central Council of Jews in Germany.

"Especially now, as the last survivors of the Shoah are passing away, memorial sites must be resolutely protected and strengthened as authentic places of remembrance."

RIAS spokeswoman Tanja Kinzel called for staff to be given further training and support to be able to deal effectively with attacks and disruptions.

RIAS operates a network of contact points across Germany where those affected can report anti-Semitic incidents, including those that are not punishable by law.