Neo-Nazi Party's Request Sends Chills Through Germany's Jewish Community

A neo-Nazi party in Germany has reportedly asked for a list of Jews living in the city of Dortmund, a development that is causing concern among Jews in the area who remember efforts under Adolf Hitler to identify which citizens were Jewish prior to implementing his extermination plan.

The city's mayor refused the Die Rechte ("The Right") party's request and is now trying to have the neo-Nazi group outlawed.

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Citing local media reports, Israel’s Ynet News reported Saturday that the neo-Nazi party’s only city council member, Dennis Giemsch, sent the letter to Mayor Ullrich Sierau asking for the names and addresses of Jewish residents.

According to Ynet, the party justified its request by saying it needed to know the size of each religious group in order to “do its job.”

The mayor called the request “inhuman” and called the Jewish community an integral part of society, Ynet reported.

The local Jewish council called the request for a census of their population "obnoxious and perfidious anti-Semitism."

Meanwhile, German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier, visiting Israel over the weekend, said that Jewish life “is flourishing” in Germany.

“Jewish life is flourishing again in Germany and in Europe. Given our history, that’s nothing less than a miracle and a blessing – Jewish life is back at the heart of our society – and that’s where it belongs!" Steinmeier wrote in an op-ed in the Times of Israel.

Addressing the recent surge of attacks against Jews in Europe, Steinmeier asserted that anti-Semitism has "no place" in Germany.

“We’re horrified by the spate of anti-Semitic hate-mongering and attacks which we’ve seen in many European cities during the last few months,” the foreign minister wrote. “Not only in Germany, but sadly also in our country, an open, brutal anti-Semitism has again reared its ugly head.”

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