Jewish athletes’ fears of antisemitic attacks prompt chancellor’s warning as incidents remain at historic highs.
By Shula Rosen
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz has called for Muslim immigrants who refuse to accept Germany’s responsibility for the Holocaust to leave the country, extending the nation’s obligation to confront its Nazi past to those who have settled there from abroad.
Merz delivered the warning at a reception in Berlin honoring Jewish athletes competing in the Maccabiah, a sporting event held in Israel every four years.
His comments addressed antisemitism among Muslim migrants and the growing security concerns of Germany’s Jewish population.
The chancellor’s remarks came after a basketball coach described how Jewish athletes feared being identified in public.
According to the coach, players were reluctant to walk through German streets wearing their red Maccabi training jackets because the Star of David displayed on them could expose them to antisemitic violence.
Merz responded by making clear that recognition of Germany’s Nazi history was not optional for immigrants.
“This historical responsibility of our country applies just as much to those who come here to Germany from Islamic countries,” he said, according to the dpa news agency. “And anyone who fails to abide by this must leave our country.”
Germany recorded 8,725 antisemitic incidents in 2025, according to the monitoring organization RIAS, a slight increase from 8,627 in 2024. In 2022, the organization documented 2,480 incidents.
Merz also drew on a speech delivered to the Bundestag in 1985 by former President Richard von Weizsäcker, marking 40 years since World War II ended.
“The young people are not responsible for what happened back then. But they are responsible for what becomes of it in history.”
The chancellor cited those words as a principle governing contemporary Germany, including people who immigrate to the country.
“And that applies to German society as a whole. And I would add, given the current circumstances: that also applies to immigrants who come to Germany,” Merz said, referring to antisemitic offenses involving Muslim migrants.
His remarks reinforced his position that protecting Jewish communities and acknowledging the Holocaust are obligations shared by everyone living in Germany, regardless of their country of origin.
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