Nearly 40 people were arrested in Berlin on Saturday as police shut down a Neo-Nazi march commemorating the death of former Hitler deputy and leading Nazi Rudolf Hess, the New York Times reported. Five hundred Neo-Nazis took part in the attempt, which was reportedly blocked by residents and left wing activists. All but four of those arrested were members of the far right while the rest were there to protest. Twelve of those detained had displayed Nazi symbols, which are banned in Germany.
Last week, Die Welt reported on a new study which found that 60 percent of German Jews have thought about emigrating because they no longer felt safe.
The online survey of more than 500 Jews was conducted by researchers at Universität Bielefeld and Frankfurt University and found that three quarters of German Jews saw anti-Semitism as a major problem and have little hope for the future. 29 percent stated that they have been harassed or offended for being Jewish while three percent said they had been physically assaulted. Despite these negative reactions, however, three quarters of respondents stated that they still felt comfortable there.
Around 70 percent of respondents indicated that they were concerned about the recent influx of Middle Eastern immigrants, stating that it could lead to an increase in anti-Semitism while 56 percent said they were scared of attacks by migrants.
According to the study “most members of the Jewish population in Germany do not dare to express their faith in the public - the fear is too great to be a victim of psychological and physical violence.”
“In some districts in major cities, I’d advise people not to identify themselves as Jews,” Josef Schuster, the president of the Central Council of Jews in Germany told German media recently.
