A German shop owner in the northern city of Flensburg posted a sign on Wednesday that Jews are banned from entering his store, sparking outrage among state officials in Schleswig-Holstein.

Hans-Velten Reisch, the 60-year-old owner of the store that sells Gothic-Utensils and technical literature, posted a sign that reads, “Jews are banned from entering here! Nothing personal. No antisemitism. Just can’t stand you.”

Germany’s largest daily newspaper, Bild, reported on Thursday that Reisch defended his anti-Jewish sign. He told the paper that “I watch the news every evening. And when I saw what the Jews were doing in the Gaza Strip, I lost my temper and printed out the poster.”

Israel launched a defensive war against the Hamas terrorist movement in Gaza after Hamas slaughtered over 1,200 people on October 7, 2023, including American citizens. 

Reisch said the police told him on Wednesday evening that he has to take down the poster. 

Dorit Stenke, Schleswig-Holstein Minister of Culture, denounced Reisch’s antisemitic sign.  (Frank Molter/picture alliance via Getty Images)

The Schleswig-Holstein Minister of Culture Dorit Stenke and Gerhard Ulrich, the state’s controversial antisemitism commissioner, took Reisch to task for his reported antisemitism, issuing a joint statement on the state government’s website.

“A sign that denies Jews access to a store is a frightening signal and an attack on the principles of our free coexistence,” Stenke said in the statement. She continued, “We cannot allow such things to continue in our society and must take decisive action against it together. Antisemitism is a threat to our democracy and must not be tolerated in any form.”

The former bishop has said, “The name ‘Israel’ is burdened with the horror and misery of this Middle East war.” He also compared Israel’s security fence with the now-defunct Berlin Wall, suggesting Israel needs to dismantle its security fence.

The anti-terrorist fence has saved the lives of thousands of Israelis from Palestinian terrorists coming from the West Bank (also known as the biblical region of Judea and Samaria), according to counter-terrorism officials in Israel.