Unknown individuals carved the word “Jew” onto the mailbox of a Jewish family living in the Harburg district of Hamburg, in northern Germany, according to the German news outlet Stern.
Rabbi Shlomo Bistritzky, Hamburg’s chief rabbi and the city’s Chabad emissary, drew public attention to the antisemitic incident in a post on X. “I am asking for advice,” Rabbi Bistritzky wrote at the start of his post. “What should I tell a Jew who lives in Hamburg-Harburg and sends me this photo of his mailbox?”
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Swastikas were drawn on the wall of a home in the city of Hanau, Germany
(Photo: Michael Probst/AP)
The German newspaper Hamburger Morgenpost, published in Hamburg since 1949 and considered one of the city’s leading newspapers, was the first to report the incident.
Rabbi Bistritzky is in close contact with the family, which for now prefers to remain anonymous out of concern about further threats. “What makes the whole matter so troubling is that we do not know who did it. We cannot speak to the perpetrator and ask why he did it,” Rabbi Bistritzky told Hamburger Morgenpost.
Many people expressed sympathy for the family in responses to Rabbi Bistritzky’s post. However, antisemitic comments supporting the act were also posted.
Since October 7, there has been an increase in recorded antisemitic incidents in Germany. The violence and incitement have included the throwing of Molotov cocktails at a synagogue in Berlin, chants of “Death to Jews” at pro-Palestinian demonstrations and displays of Nazi symbols.
These incidents are part of a growing wave of antisemitism worldwide, recalling dark periods of the past.