The Brandenburg police have a security concept for Jewish institutions (symbolic image) Photo: picture alliance / zb | Andreas Franke
From BZ/dpa
In an already tense security situation, the police in Brandenburg are planning to take “measures appropriate to the situation” to protect Jewish institutions on the anniversary of the pogrom night 85 years ago.
The situation in the context of the Middle East conflict is being assessed “ongoing,” a police spokesman said on Wednesday. The spokesman did not want to provide more specific information: “For tactical reasons, we do not provide any information about the security concept.” We are in contact with Jewish communities and institutions.
On the night of November 9th to 10th, 1938, the National Socialists devastated around 7,500 Jewish shops and institutions in Germany. They set fire to most of the approximately 1,200 synagogues and prayer houses, demolished Jewish cemeteries and stormed apartments. How many people died is unclear. The Nazi regime spoke of 91 dead Jews. Historians estimate that more than 1,300 people died as a result of the pogrom. More than 30,000 Jews were deported to concentration camps.
Terrorism expert Peter Neumann recently warned of the increased likelihood of Islamist attacks in Germany. In the past ten years, “the myth of the terrorist lone perpetrator has been so normalized that many may consider striking out on their own,” Neumann said on Deutschlandfunk on Wednesday. He could imagine that this would become the “modus operandi” against the Jewish institution.
He called for hatred of Jews or hostility to Israel to be prioritized when considering security. All security authorities would then have to concentrate intensively on this phenomenon. If you don’t want to be overwhelmed in a few years, then you have to concentrate now on watching it very closely – both on the street and on the Internet.