Already 960 antisemitic crimes were recorded in 2023, the suspects mostly come from the right-wing extremist spectrum. But Faeser also sees hatred of Jews in the middle of society. The Central Council of Jews warns that many attacks by Muslims, for example, are not even recorded.
The number of antisemitic crimes remains at a high level. The Federal Criminal Police Office registered a total of 960 cases in the first half of the year, including 25 acts of violence. This emerges from a response from the federal government to a small question from the Vice President of the Bundestag, Petra Pau (left). Last year, 965 criminal offenses were registered at this point.
The majority of criminal offenses can be assigned to so-called politically motivated “right-wing” crime. 380 of the 446 criminal offenses registered in the second quarter of 2023 and seven of the 14 acts of violence are attributable to this area. Two of these acts of violence were registered in Berlin and Bavaria, as well as one each in Saxony, Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania and Lower Saxony.
In the second quarter, 15 criminal offenses and two violent offenses were attributed to the “foreign ideology” category, while four criminal offenses and one violent offense were attributed to a “religious ideology”, i.e. Islamist-motivated offenses. Accordingly, 33 criminal offenses and four violent offenses cannot be assigned to any area. In the phenomenon area “left” no offenses could be measured in the second quarter of the year. Throughout the previous year, the number of antisemitic acts of violence had risen massively to a total of 88 .
It should be emphasized that the previous figures from 2023 could be significantly higher, because many crimes are only reported with some delay. In the previous year, at the time of the first query, 347 criminal offenses could be reported in the second quarter of 2022; these have now been corrected to 714 criminal offenses through late reports. Pau already criticized the delayed registration numbers last year. There is a need for timely recording and increased awareness of police officers for antisemitic crimes.
Incitement to hatred dominates among the reported crimes. Many of these crimes are committed online. In addition, the Federal Criminal Police Office found cases of dangerous bodily harm, robbery, insult, use of symbols of unconstitutional organizations – such as the swastika – or disturbance of the peace of the dead.
