BERLIN, Dec. 21 (JTA) A neo-Nazi group has called for attacks on Jewish institutions, Parliament members and anti-fascist groups, according to a hit list recently sent to various organizations in Berlin.
Under the title “The Werewolf,” an anonymous author threatens, “Whoever challenges us will have to deal with our counterattack.”
The announcement also called for a “new National Socialist offensive,” a reference to the Nazis.
According to a spokesman for the Justice Department in Berlin, the existence of such hit lists is known, but he had no details about the new one.
Ulli Jentsch, who works at the Antifascist Press Archive in Berlin, where a copy of the list was received by mail, said it appeared to be a follow-up to one released late last summer by an “anti-antifascist” group.
“People have to understand why we are taking such strong security measures,” said Berlin Jewish Community President Andreas Nachama.
“Many people think this is exaggerated, but we are not doing this for fun. There is a real threat in our society the situation is bad,” he said.
The list of “people’s enemies” reportedly includes names and photos of members of Parliament.
Also named are the Central Council of Jews in Germany, the Jewish weekly newspaper, Jewish cultural centers, several Jewish-style restaurants and the Jewish hospital, and several antifascist organizations as well as Holocaust memorial institutions.
Elisa Klapheck, a spokeswoman for the Jewish Community in Berlin, said there had not been more threats than usual recently, but a recent incident had been particularly worrying.
After a Berlin stonemason voluntarily repaired tombstones recently damaged by vandals in the Weissensee Jewish cemetery here, his warehouse was attacked.
“It was very personal they broke into his workshop and destroyed the stones,” Klapheck said.
Jentsch said his group is contacting other groups on the hit list to make sure they know they have been threatened.
“I think everyone who is on such a list should take it seriously,” he said. He added that the people who distributed a hit list last summer “have collected weapons that are illegal for private people to have.”
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