Merz: Immigrants From Islamic Countries Must Accept Germany's Responsibility for the Holocaust, or Leave
Berlin — German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said on November 6, at a Federal Chancellery reception honouring German medallists from the 2026 Maccabiah Games, that Germany's historical responsibility for the Holocaust applies just as much to people who come to Germany from Islamic countries, the German press agency dpa reported. "And anyone who fails to abide by this must leave our country," Merz said.
A basketball coach at the reception had told the chancellor that athletes feared wearing Jewish symbols in public. Merz answered by quoting a 1985 Bundestag address by former President Richard von Weizsäcker marking the 40th anniversary of the end of World War II, describing the responsibility as set in stone, and added that, given the current circumstances, it also applies to people immigrating to Germany.
The most explicit "must leave" wording was delivered in the exchange prompted by the coach, rather than in the prepared remarks published on the German government's website, reports said. Merz announced no new immigration law or deportation order that day.
Figures from Germany's Federal Criminal Police Office recorded 6,236 antisemitic offences in 2024, up about 21 percent from the previous year and a new high. The Maccabiah Games are an international Jewish sporting event held in Israel every four years. (Source: dpa)
Source: dpa
Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图：位于柏林的德国联邦总理府（资料图，本站档案图）。 / Photo: The Federal Chancellery in Berlin (file photo, GSM archive).
