A total of 1,270 antisemitic incidents were documented in Berlin in 2023, according to Germany’s Federal Association of Departments for Research and Information on Antisemitism (RIAS).
The figure represents an almost 50% increase on the previous year and the highest number of incidents in the capital in a single calendar year since RIAS began its work in 2015.
According to RIAS, over 60% of incidents were recorded between October 7, when the Palestinian militant Islamist group Hamas attacked Israel, killing around 1,200 Israelis and taking about 250 more hostages, and the end of the year.
A total of 783 antisemitic incidents were recorded in Berlin after October 7, the annual report revealed.
RIAS has been recording an average of about 10 antisemitic incidents a day in Berlin since the start of the current war.
“October 7, 2023, was a watershed moment,” the report notes. “Since then, antisemitism has been significantly more present in Berlin, with previously existing forms of antisemitism hardening and intensifying.”
The RIAS report also finds that antisemitic incidents in the capital have become more violent in nature, with 34 antisemitic assaults recorded.
One of the most serious incidents was an arson attack on a synagogue in central Berlin’s Mitte district on the night of October 17-18, while another case details how a man threw a firework at two people who were speaking Hebrew in a bar.
Online antisemitism has increased, too, with the RIAS report documenting 41 cases of antisemitic abuse directed at Jewish social media users.
