(May 28, 2019 / JNS) BERLIN–Germany’s “anti-Semitism czar” Felix Klein created an international stir after stating on May 25 that Jews would be ill-advised to wear a kipah “everywhere and all the time” in Germany. Reactions from Jewish world and German leaders ranged from disappointment to outrage over what seemed to be an admission of Germany’s failure to combat anti-Semitism in the European country most historically stained by this hatred.
In an email interview a day following the announcement, Klein clarified that his kipah-advisory “should rather be understood as a call to action.”
“I made this statement in order to trigger a discussion in the German public about the security of the Jewish community,” he said. “It is my aim that German society understands the fight against anti-Semitism as a common effort. The first step is to raise general awareness of the problem.”
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