Coronavirus is blamed for surge in German anti-Semitism and sparking ‘boom in conspiracy theories’ including the claim Covid-19 was a failed Israeli bioweapon
- 1,607 have died from coronavirus in Germany alone and 99,225 people infected
- Anti-Semitism commissioner Felix Klein said hatred against Jews is a virus
- He said ‘radicals have tried to leverage the coronavirus crisis for their own ends’
Hatred against Jewish people has spiked in Germany as deadly coronavirus ravages the country.
Officials have reported a ‘boom in conspiracy theories’ since the crisis began, including one that states the pandemic is the result of a failed Israeli bioweapon test.
Coronavirus has killed 1,607 in Germany alone with 99,225 people infected.
The government’s anti-Semitism commissioner Felix Klein described hatred against Jewish people as a virus of its own that is ‘contagious on a social level’
The government’s anti-Semitism commissioner Felix Klein said: ‘There are direct links between the current spread of the coronavirus and that of anti-Semitism.’
Speaking at the launch of a new government research project into the issue, he described anti-Semitism as a virus of its own that is ‘contagious on a social level’.
This graph shows the daily number of new coronavirus cases in Germany, which has stayed below 4,000 for two days running
This graph shows the daily number of deaths. After falling to 92 yesterday, the number was back up to 173 today
He added: ‘There is a boom in conspiracy theories in times of crisis.’
He cited claims circulating online that the pandemic is the result of a failed bioweapon test by the Israeli secret service as an example.
‘In recent weeks, right-wing radicals have increasingly tried to leverage the coronavirus crisis for their own ends,’ Mr Klein added.
Anti-Semitic crimes have increased steadily in Germany in recent years.
Medical staff in protective suits and masks treat a coronavirus patient in an intensive care unit at a community hospital in Berlin yesterday
A medical worker presses a screen while wearing gloves at the Havelhoehe community hospital in Berlin yesterday
The country recorded 1,799 anti-Semitic offences in 2018, up nearly 20 percent on the year before. Of those, 69 were classed as violent attacks.
Last October, a suspected neo-Nazi gunman tried to storm a synagogue filled with worshippers in the city of Halle.
After failing to break down the door, he shot dead a female passer-by and a man at a kebab shop instead.
With 12 million euros of funding between 2021 and 2025, the new research project involving several German universities will aim ‘to better understand the causes and manifestations of anti-Semitism,’ according to Education and Research Minister Anja Karliczek.
Germany added fewer than 4,000 cases to its coronavirus tally for the second day running today, in the latest promising sign that the peak may have passed.
The increase of 3,834 cases follows a similar jump of 3,677 yesterday, bringing the total number of infections from 95,391 to 99,225.
The 4.0 per cent rise is almost identical to yesterday’s increase, which was the lowest since the crisis began.
However, the jump of 173 deaths is higher than yesterday’s 92, bringing the total from 1,434 to 1,607.