Number of Antisemitic Crimes in Germany Rose 29% in 2021, New Government Data Shows

The number of antisemitic crimes in Germany jumped by 29% in 2021 from the previous year, according to new data released by the German government last week, the Times of Israel reported.

A report published by Germany’s Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution, based on statistics compiled by the Federal Criminal Police Office, showed that a total of 3,027 antisemitic incidents were recorded in 2021, up from 2,351 in 2020.

A clear majority of the incidents had far-right motives, but there was also a significant surge in occurrences of radical Islamist antisemitism, from 26 in 2020 to 122 in 2021, with a rise accompanying the Israel-Gaza conflict in May 2021.

Conspiracy theories related to the Covid-19 pandemic also helped fuel the overall increase in antisemitism.

“Some protesters against Germany’s response to the pandemic are blaming imaginary Jews for profiting from it and at the same time attaching Jewish stars to their clothes, as if to say they are the new Jews,” Benjamin Steinitz, director of the Berlin-based Research and Information Center on Antisemitism (RIAS) commented. “Antisemitic conspiracy myths and Shoah trivialization have been normalized. This is a worrisome development.”

Josef Schuster — head of the Central Council of Jews in Germany — said the data proved that Jewish life in Germany “continues to be under massive threat.”