German woman is fined for being antisemitic to opera chief

German woman is fined for being antisemitic to opera chief

News

norman lebrecht

August 18, 2023

A woman who sent an antisemitic email to Hanover State Opera director Laura Berman has been fined 1,200 Euros by a Hanover district court, to be paid at 40 Euros a day.

The offender made disparaging remarks about the opera-house programme and low standards, connecting the decline to the director’s Jewish origin.

Her email was found to have ‘degraded [Berman’s] honor and attacked her human dignity because of her Jewish faith.’

More here.

Comments

  • A.L. says:

    The other day the American game show Jeopardy featured Phobias as a category for the contestants. One of the phobias that came up was Teutophobia which of course is fear of Germans or of things German/Teutonic (and let’s not lose sight of the thin line separating fear from hatred). That one flew by without a hitch. It struck me as particularly strange and offensive that the show organizers included it and that it rang as funny and acceptable with the contestants and audience alike. Because the organizers would have never inserted any other number of phobias that get people fined, blacklisted or worse.

    • I’ll be Bach says:

      Well, in this case sounds like Teutophobia is quite warranted — I’d be afraid of this lady, too.

      Also, Germans are not an internationally persecuted minority who were systematically murdered to the tune of millions in recent history, hence the harmlessness of the Jeopardy category. There’s a big difference in phobias that call for violence and extermination vs “trivial” phobias on a game show. Didn’t think this needed to be explained, but thank you for proving the point of the article, the legal fines levied against this woman mentioned, and the ongoing need to highlight antisemitism in Germany and around the world.

    • Michael Kalman says:

      I do not understand your point in the context of the offense reported in Hanover. Are you possibly suggesting that the bar for antisemitic rants is too low and that, just as the anti-German comment was considered acceptable, so too should the antisemitic remark also be considered acceptable?

      • A.L. says:

        That’s not what I am saying. What I am saying is that society shouldn’t trivialize and make light of one kind of civic-related phobia over another, regardless of history. If one phobia is unacceptable and therefore finable, the other should be too.

  • Anthony Sayer says:

    Some people just can’t help themselves, can they?

  • Save the MET says:

    Sadly, her emotions are likely long held within this woman’s family. These hostilities are learned they are not innate and don’t come out of thin air. The fine will likely not change her brainwashed mind. Therealso needs to be some sort of required outreach to these people so they have an unvarnished exposure to Jews who mean them no harm and are willing to help change minds.

    • Sue Sonata Form says:

      There’s also another very useful tool; attack their bottom line ($) and watch them repeat the behaviour!!

  • Robin Blick says:

    What a nice lady. Hitler would be proud.

  • Tom Phillips says:

    In the U.S. “people” like that email writer are the very heart of the MAGA movement and conservatism generally. We should have similar penalties but today’s Germany is of course an infinitely more morally and civilizationally advanced nation.

    • Greg Hlatky says:

      Do you think history began yesterday? In 1933 there were 9.5 million Jews living in Europe. In 2020, this number had fallen to an estimated 1.3 million. Yet you yammer about Germany being morally and civilizationally superior. Like the tribal chief who banned cannibalism after he ate the last missionary.

      I did not know creatures like Ilhan Omar and Rashida Tlaib were part of the MAGA movement. The things you learn around here.

  • Gustavo says:

    The lack of humour in Germany can sometimes cause people to feel offended although a remark was intended to stimulate comic relief.

    “Don’t mention the war” and all that stuff.

  • Robert Holmén says:

    They walk among us.

    I’m not surprised that some people harbor such views, but I’m always surprised that they imagine that expressing it is the thing they had to do.

    Thinking that their rancid opinion was significant is nearly as delusional as the opinion was.

  • Michael Kalman says:

    What was written about Hanover conductor Laura Berman was not the “garden variety” of antisemitic hate speech. No, what was shockingly written rises to a higher level, it was genocidal antisemitism:

    Hitler sei viel »zu human zu Leuten dieser Sorte« gewesen, schrieb die Frau unter anderem. Außerdem äußerte sie, Juden seien »ekelhaftes und krankes und menschenverachtendes Gesindel«, man müsse sie wie »menschlichen Sondermüll« entsorgen.

    Translation:
    Among other things, the woman wrote that Hitler was much “too humane towards people of this kind”. She also said that Jews were “disgusting, sick and inhuman rabble” and that they had to be disposed of as “hazardous human waste”.

    Source:
    Jüdische Allgemeine – August 19, 2023
    https://www.juedische-allgemeine.de/kultur/hitler-war-viel-zu-human/

  • henry williams says:

    this person should be fired from their job.
    a small fine is not enough.

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