German officials said hate crimes targeting Jews rose 10 percent last year, to 1,646, while physical attacks increased by more than a third, to 62, in the same time period.
In May, the government official tasked with combating anti-Semitism said that Jews should not wear their skullcaps in public, sparking a debate about the threats posed to Germany’s revived Jewish community. Those fears materialized on Oct. 9, when a German armed with a gun and spouting anti-Semitic tropes attacked a synagogue in the eastern city of Halle.
Only a locked door prevented him from entering and harming the congregants on Yom Kippur, the holiest day on the Jewish calendar. But he killed two people and wounded two others in a rampage that rattled the country and raised questions about modern Germany’s ability to protect Jewish life.
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Article URL : https://www.nytimes.com/2019/12/06/world/europe/angela-merkel-auschwitz.html