Outrage In Germany After Store Posts “Jews Not Allowed” Sign

A store owner in the northern German city of Flensburg is under fire for placing a sign on his shop window banning Jews, prompting public outrage and police reports. Officials and Jewish leaders described the move as an open act of antisemitism reminiscent of Nazi Germany.

The notice, displayed at a shop secondhand books and other merchandise, read: “Jews are not allowed to enter here. Nothing personal, nothing antisemitic — I just can’t stand you.”

Hans Felten-Reisch, 60, who owns the store, defended his actions in comments to a local paper, ranting about Israel’s actions in Gaza. “After all, there are Jews living in Israel, and I can’t decide who is for or against the attacks,” he said. “This is hypocrisy. They keep saying history must not repeat itself, but then they do it themselves.”

Felix Klein, Germany’s federal commissioner for combating antisemitism, denounced the sign as “antisemitism in its purest and most explicit form.” He warned that the message echoed the Nazi period, when Jews were excluded from public spaces and businesses. “We cannot tolerate this under any circumstances,” Klein said.

Flensburg, Germany’s northernmost city and third-largest port, is a largely left-leaning city. In the last federal election, more than 38 percent of its voters supported the Green Party and other left-wing lists, while the far-right Alternative for Germany received just 13 percent, significantly lower than its national support.

The sign drew swift condemnation from residents and politicians. Former mayor Simone Lange said she had filed a police complaint, and a local history teacher also reported Felten-Reisch for incitement to hatred.

Israeli Ambassador to Germany Ron Prosor issued a harsh rebuke: “In Flensburg, in 2025, signs saying ‘Jews not allowed’ are once again hanging in shop windows. Just like then, in the streets, cafés and stores of the 1930s. This is exactly how it began—step by step, sign by sign. It is the same old hatred, only in a different font. After the signs came shards of glass, fire and destruction. And today, people behave as if it were ‘nothing personal.’

“It was never about Zionism. It was always about Jewish life. And it has never ended harmlessly. Politicians cannot wait until it is too late; they must act now, before words once again turn into actions. Jewish life must be safe and visible in Germany!”

Local police visited the shop on Wednesday night, but as of late that evening, the sign remained displayed in the window. German media reported Thursday that it was removed.