Sixty-year-old Hans Velten Reisch has been the owner of a small specialist shop at 63 Duburger Street in Flensburg, Germany, since 2016. The shop sells technical literature, focusing on original workshop manuals for cars and motorcycles. A week ago, on Wednesday, September 17, Reisch posted a sign in the front window of his store reading: "Juden haben hier Hausverbot!!! Nichts persönliches. auch kein Antisemitismus. kann euch nur nicht ausstehen." (English: "Jews are banned from here!!! Nothing personal. Also no antisemitism. I just can’t stand you.")

The sign posted by Reisch evokes a disturbing similarity to the signs that were placed in Jewish storefronts in Nazi Germany in the 1930s, before the outbreak of WWII. The public signs banning Jews after Hitler rose to power were the first stages of Nazi persecution, which eventually led to mass deportations and the systematic murder of six million Jews.

The Flensburg police arrived at Reisch's store around 6:45 PM and told Reisch he had to remove the sign due to "public safety reasons." Police spokesperson, Philipp Renoncourt, stated, "We are currently examining whether a criminal offense has occurred." The Bundesamt für Verfassungsschutz, Germany's domestic intelligence agency, opened an investigation "on suspicion of incitement to hatred."

In response to the police, Reisch hung a Palestinian flag in his front store window and moved the sign to the wall opposite the entrance, where it still remains visible to customers entering the store. By the following day, graffiti appeared in the shop window that read, "Nazis raus!!!" (English: "Nazis out!!!") and "Fuck Nazis."

Reisch was unapologetic for hanging the sign in his store window and justified his actions due to "Israel's military operations in Gaza." Reisch said he didn't want to serve customers who he believes support the war in Israel. Reisch stated, "I don't need those people here, neither for business nor privately." Reisch also stated he had nothing against Jews who distance themselves from the war in Israel: "They'll still get a cup of coffee."

Reisch was surprised by the amount of public attention he received for his actions. "I never thought it would cause such waves," he said. Reisch maintained he was not antisemitic and that his sign was meant only for his neighborhood and not the whole world. "I'm not inciting hatred; I'm just saying what I think." Reisch plans to close his shop on September 30, but he insists it is not due to the attention he got from his sign, but because of uncertain economic conditions and frustration with over-regulation.

Reisch described himself as "a bit left, a bit right, but not radical." Reisch insisted, "I’m not a Nazi." Reisch thinks the word "racism" is overused in today's rhetoric. "Today you're already called a Nazi if you order a gypsy schnitzel," referencing the political correctness surrounding the word "gypsy".

In 2018, the German government established the office of Federal Government Commissioner for Jewish Life in Germany and the Fight against Antisemitism. (Someone needs to teach them how to come up with shorter names.) Dr. Felix Klein was the first person appointed to the Commissioner's role, and he still holds that position today. Regarding the sign posted by Reisch in his store window, Dr. Klein emphasized that such an act should not be tolerated. Klein put out the following statement: "This is antisemitism in its purest form, and of course there are direct references to the Nazi era, where Jews were boycotted and there were many such signs."

There has been a sharp increase in reported antisemitic cases around the world since October 7, 2023. On that date, Hamas invaded Israel and raped and murdered 1,200 civilians, including infants. In Germany alone, there were 994 documented cases of antisemitism in the 34-day period between October 7, 2023, and November 9, 2023, for an average of just over 29 incidents per day. This represented a 320 percent increase in antisemitic cases from the same period in 2022. In the first three months of 2025, there were 1,047 reported antisemitic incidents in Germany. The level of antisemitic activity has remained high to the present day.

On Thursday, September 18, Flensburg's mayor, Dr. Fabian Geyer, issued the following statement. "This is reminiscent of the darkest chapters of German history and has absolutely no place in this city." He added: "As a community, as the administration, as the city as a whole, we stand united that this cannot be tolerated. This is not an expression of opinion but a clear statement against Jewish people in our society. We fight every day to prevent such ideas from spreading. We must show solidarity. We must stand together and we will, with the Jewish community here in Flensburg."

Elena Sokolovsky, chair of the Jewish Community of Flensburg, stated, "We were reminded of the times when Jewish businesses were labeled 'Do not buy from Jews.' Only this time it isn't a Jewish shop but a German one." There are very few Jews who live in Flensburg. Sokolovsky continued, "It’s a senseless action, hardly any Jew will wander into this store, and if they did, they wouldn't reveal their identity. Fundamentally, it's a difficult time for us. Propaganda, false news, hatred, hostility, the reversal of perpetrator and victim. All of that weighs on the mood."

German media asked Sokolovsky if she was considering having a conversation with Reisch. Sokolovsky replied bluntly: "There are people who are not open to any argument. This is reflected by hostile posts on social media and unfortunately, also in the press. A conversation with the shopkeeper is pointless. He has made it clear that he doesn't like us anyway."

The Jewish community in Flensburg feels the police have taken this matter seriously. Sokolovsky added, "The police immediately investigated the matter and kept us continuously updated. We expressly thank them for this. We've received a lot of positive feedback from society, from political parties, from the city administration. Often, it's the loud and bold voices that shape perceptions. But that's not the whole truth. We're experiencing broad support and genuine appreciation."

However, some members of the community have this to say to the German news outlet Förde News regarding the intense media attention. "On the one hand, the incident is an isolated case. The shop owner is deliberately provoking. Therefore he should not be given too much attention." But Sokolovsky made it clear that this is not an isolated incident. "Antisemitism doesn't begin with violence. It begins with words and with signs like these."

German columnist Thomsen, who writes for Förde News, ended his report with the following: "The Reisch case raises fundamental questions: Where does freedom of expression end? Where does criminally actionable agitation begin? Is Reisch a true believer, a frustrated citizen, or a calculating provocateur? While many classify his statements as antisemitic, he sees himself as a warning voice, in a society that, in his view, is becoming increasingly blind to grievances." Unfortunately, such justifications of antisemitism by the press only encourage more antisemitic acts.

Flensburg Holocaust Background, 1945

Just over 80 years ago, the city of Flensburg, Germany, was a key destination of the Nazis in 1945 as they evacuated concentration camps ahead of the Allied advance.

 Towards the end of the war, there were about 12,000 Jews, mostly women, imprisoned in the Neuengamme concentration camp. On April 19, 1945, the Nazi Schutzstaffel (SS) murdered 3,000 prisoners at the Neuengamme concentration camp and forced most of the remaining 9,000 Jews on a 40-mile death march to Lübeck on the Baltic Sea. About 700 German Jews were left behind to destroy the documents of the concentration camp. On April 30, 1945, the German Jews who stayed behind were evacuated by the Nazis to Flensburg, Germany, about 110 miles to the north.

Near the end of the war, there were around 9,500 men imprisoned at the satellite POW camp Sandbostel. On April 19, 1945, the Nazis evacuated the satellite POW camp Sandbostel during an air raid alarm, taking several hundred prisoners with them who could still walk and marched them to Flensburg, Germany, where they joined the German Jews who evacuated from the Neuengamme concentration camp. The remaining 9,000 prisoners at Sandbostel were left to fend for themselves. Several thousand prisoners died in the remaining ten days before the British army liberated them on April 29.

 On May 4, the Nazis loaded all the prisoners at Flensburg, Germany, onto the ship Rheinfels. The prisoners aboard the Rheinfels were finally liberated by the British on May 10 when the Nazis surrendered.

 Signs like Reisch's revive painful wartime memories for the local Jewish community. It is impossible to separate Reisch's antisemitic sign from Flensburg's historical connections to the Holocaust.

Author's Note: The main source for this story was the Forde News article linked in the opening paragraph. which was written in German. Google Translate was used and then cross-referenced with English versions of the story. However, the German-language version contained additional details not present in the English versions.