The Saxon police registered 172 anti-Jewish crimes last year. The number comes from a response from the Ministry of the Interior to a small request from Left MP Kerstin Köditz. In the previous year there were even 189 acts. “The current number of cases is still at a high level, so it is too early to give the all-clear,” explained Köditz. She also doubts the completeness of the data.
“If you take the obvious cases as a basis, they have recently increased particularly in Leipzig (38) and Dresden (26) as well as in the district of Meissen (19). On the other hand, they occurred comparatively rarely in the Vogtland district and in the Erzgebirge district (six each),” said Köditz with. The statistics primarily included hate speech (111 acts) and the use of signs of unconstitutional organizations (31), such as Holocaust denial and banned Nazi slogans. In addition, there is also a dozen property damage. According to Köditz, around 80 percent of all crimes are associated with rights. “One thing remains clear: anti-Semitism is always and in any form unacceptable – no matter from which direction. It also depends on consistent criminal prosecution,” emphasized the politician. But here of all places there are still no breakthroughs. “Only 16 convictions reached the Saxon courts last year. In the previous year there were at least 26 judgments. We must not relax in this area. Hatred of Jews should be punished.”
