Authored by Liz Heflin via Remix News,
A shop owner in the city of Flensburg, Germany, near the Danish border, decided to put up an anti-Semitic sign in his window, effectively banning Jews from his store.
The 60-year-old owner of the shop, Hans Velten-Reisch, admitted to putting up the A4-sized paper himself, which read: “Jews not allowed!!!”
Below that clear ban, in smaller letters, the owner wrote: “Nothing personal, not anti-Semitism, I just can’t stand you.”
In a statement to the Schleswig-Holsteinische Zeitungsverlag, reported on by Magyar Nemzet, the owner denied the accusation of anti-Semitism and justified his actions with Israel’s attacks on Gaza.
“There are Jews living in Israel, and I can’t tell who supports the attacks and who doesn’t,” R. said, in an attempt to justify his action. He also called Israeli attacks in Gaza “hypocritical.”
“They always say that history shouldn’t repeat itself, but then they do it themselves,” the shopowner added, comparing Israeli actions in Gaza to the Holocaust.
Posts with photos of the shop window have gone viral on social media.
Felix Klein, the German federal government’s commissioner against anti-Semitism, has spoken out on the matter.
“This is pure anti-Semitism, and of course a direct reference to the Nazi era, when Jews were boycotted and many such signs were visible.”
“This should not be tolerated in any form,” Klein emphasized.
Local politicians were also quick to react, with the Flensburg branch of the Greens condemning the anti-Semitic poster most strongly. Simone Lange, the former mayor of Flensburg, personally filed a police report.
Federal Minister of Education Karin Prien, who also has Jewish ancestry, said: “Anyone who expresses and justifies anti-Semitism goes against everything that our democratic coexistence represents.”
Police have received several reports regarding the sign, and the prosecutor’s office is investigating whether a crime was committed.
“We must show that we will not tolerate anti-Semitism,” Klein stated.
The Israeli ambassador to Germany, Ron Prosor, also spoke up. “In Flensburg, in 2025, signs saying ‘Jews not allowed’ are once again hanging in shop windows. Just like then, in the streets, cafes and stores of the 1930s,” The Independent reports him as saying.
“This is exactly how it began – step by step, sign by sign. It is the same old hatred, only in a different font. After the signs came shards of glass, fire and destruction. And today, people behave as if it were ‘nothing personal.’”
“It was never about Zionism. It was always about Jewish life. And it has never ended harmlessly,” Ambassador Prosor added.