The Federal Association of Departments for Research and Information on Antisemitism (RIAS) documented 8,725 antisemitic incidents in Germany in 2025, while Chancellor Friedrich Merz renewed a pledge to protect Jewish life at a Munich synagogue ceremony.
The figure equated to about 24 incidents each day and was more than triple the 2022 total, RIAS said. The group said reports of antisemitic incidents had come in substantial numbers since the Gaza war began in 2023.
At a Nov. 9 ceremony in Munich marking the 1938 Kristallnacht pogrom, Merz described antisemitism as “omnipresent.” He said it was time to test Germany’s repeated “Never again” pledge, calling it a “moment of truth.”
Merz called the security arrangements at kindergartens and synagogues — bulletproof glass and armed police — “horrifying.” He linked Germany’s support for Israel to the country’s historical responsibility and pledged government action to protect Jewish people at home and overseas.
Reuters reported that former chancellors Angela Merkel and Olaf Scholz had also pledged to defend Jewish institutions and oppose antisemitism.
The pogrom began Nov. 9, 1938, with Jews killed and their property looted or destroyed. The name “Night of Broken Glass” refers to shattered glass found near Jewish homes, stores and synagogues. The violence preceded the Holocaust, which killed more than 6 million European Jews.
Ilse Aigner, speaker of the Bavarian parliament, called the “climate of fear” facing Jews in Germany “a disgrace for our country.”
