Decision to Allow Former Security Detail Member Back into Police Service Sparks Criticism
A recent ruling by the Bavarian Administrative Court of Appeal permitting the return of a former security detail member of Charlotte Knobloch, President of the Israelitische Kultusgemeinde München und Oberbayern, has drawn sharp criticism from political figures and the government’s anti-antisemitism commissioner.
Felix Klein, the federal government’s commissioner on antisemitism, expressed his profound disapproval to the German newspaper “Welt” stating that the individual’s alleged online statements were “highly inhumane and thus clearly against the values of the Basic Law”. Klein emphasized the need for greater education within the justice system regarding antisemitism and its consequences across Germany and Bavaria.
Ludwig Spaenle, Bavaria’s own anti-antisemitism commissioner from the Christian Social Union (CSU), voiced his strong objection, describing it as “unbearable” for a police officer to harbor wishes of a fate akin to the Nazi era for those they are sworn to protect. Spaenle lamented the court’s decision, asserting that police personnel should not make or share antisemitic or racist remarks on private platforms.
Karl Freller, a CSU member of the Bavarian state parliament and director of the Bavarian Memorial Foundation, echoed these sentiments, calling the ruling “absolutely unsatisfactory”. He argued that an individual with such a “shocking mindset” has no place within the police force.
Charlotte Knobloch herself expressed bewilderment at the court’s decision to “trust” individuals who rely on the protection of security forces. The Holocaust survivor and former head of the Central Council of Jews in Germany stressed the importance of a stronger awareness within the judiciary that antisemitism not only threatens Jewish people but also endangers democracy and the rule of law.