Eighty years after the Kristallnacht (“Night of Broken Glass”) pogrom, nearly one-third of Germans harbor varying degrees of anti-Semitic beliefs, new research has revealed.
Although the research, conducted by Leipzig University in conjunction with the social-democratic Friedrich Ebert Foundation, shows that anti-Semitism is less widespread in Germany today than it was in the past, a significant number of Germans still hold negative views of Jews.
According to the research, some 31 percent of Germans believe that ”Jews still have too much influence.” About 29 percent of Germans think “Jews use dirty tricks more than others.”
One in 10 respondents explicitly agreed with the statement: “There is something special about Jews and they don’t really fit in with us.” Another 20 percent implicitly agreed with it.
Around 40 percent of Germans said that Israeli policies contribute to the unsympathetic sentiments towards Jews.
