1 June 2026
Flensburg court convicts 60-year-old man of anti-Semitism for putting up sign in shop window
A district court in Flensburg, near the Danish border in northern Germany, has sentenced a 60-year-old man to a six-month suspended prison sentence for painting a sign in his shop window saying Jews were not welcome.
He was also ordered to pay a fine of €1,200 (about $1,400) to the nearby Ladelund Concentration Camp Memorial Centre.
The case dates back to September 2025, when for a period of about four hours, the man hung a placard on his shop window which read: “Jews are banned from home!!!! Nothing personal, no anti-Semitism either, [I] Just can’t stand you.”
He removed the sign from the visible outdoor area under police orders, but prosecutors said he kept it on display inside the store even after being reprimanded.
The accused apologized and said he understood how inappropriate his words were, his lawyer said, reading a statement in court. He asked for a reduced sentence, adding that he had been in psychiatric treatment due to poor impulse control since his youth.
The man said before the trial that he objected to Israeli wars in the Middle East and found Germany’s stance on Israel hypocritical, arguing that supporters who said “never again” after the genocide should actually be censuring the Israeli government.
When the matter escalated, he faced death threats and cases of vandalism at his shop. The incident also made headlines in the US, after a charge against the man was filed by a member of the Israeli parliament, the Knesset.