Man Finds Antisemitic Graffiti in Prayer Book Bought at Berlin Jewish Bookstore

An employee of the German Jewish organization WerteInitiative, who wished to remain anonymous, reported a disturbing antisemitic incident to the German Jewish newspaper Jüdische Allgemeine. He had ordered a prayer book from a Jewish bookstore in Berlin and discovered hateful graffiti inside it when reviewing the book at home on Monday. The graffiti included the words "Hitler" and "Free Palestine," alongside a disturbing illustration on one of the pages.

The bookstore owner wondered who could have defaced the prayer book. When the employee complained to the bookstore staff on Tuesday, they appeared genuinely concerned. He also ordered another book from the same store, which arrived undamaged. This led him to suspect that the defacement occurred before the book reached the bookstore.

Bookstore employees confirmed that the prayer book was delivered without packaging, meaning a supplier could have vandalized it without drawing attention. Due to the sensitive nature of the case, the individual involved chose not to publicly disclose the bookstore’s name at this time.