A Jewish woman said security forced her to remove a Star of David necklace before entering a German court on Monday to watch a trial over a shop sign excluding Jews.
Keren Stopka told Bild that staff at Flensburg District Court in Schleswig-Holstein made her hand over the necklace so it would not “disrupt” proceedings.
Inside the courtroom, 60-year-old Hans-Velten Reisch faced trial for incitement to hatred. Prosecutors said he placed a sign on his second-hand shop that said Jews could not enter.
The sign also said, “Nothing personal, no antisemitism. I just can’t stand you.” The court sentenced Reisch to a six-month suspended prison term.
According to court documents, the judge ruled that Reisch’s conduct did not fall under protected free expression. Instead, the court found that the sign incited hatred and attacked Jewish dignity in Germany.
The judge said Reisch deliberately echoed Nazi-era boycott slogans aimed at Jewish businesses. As part of probation, the court ordered him to pay 1,200 euros to the Ladelund concentration camp memorial.
Reisch admitted that he hung the sign and expressed remorse. However, he had earlier told police he posted it because Jews he knew had not opposed the war in Gaza.
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The case followed other reported incidents involving Jews and Israelis in Europe. In Bavaria, Israeli travellers said a hotel told them through Booking that Jews could not stay there.
Booking later removed the Zum Hirschen hotel from its platform. Bavarian authorities are reviewing whether the case breached anti-discrimination rules.
Talya Lador, Israel’s consul general in Munich, welcomed Booking’s action and called for accountability. Meanwhile, a Barcelona spa apologised after two Jewish American women said staff denied them entry over Star of David necklaces.
