Pro-Hamas demonstrators marching in Munich, Germany. Photo: Reuters/Alexander Pohl
As Jews and Israelis face a relentlessly hostile climate in Germany, the Jewish community in Potsdam, a city just outside Berlin, fears it may not be safe to open a new Jewish daycare center amid growing security concerns.
First reported by the German newspaper Märkische Allgemeine, the local Jewish community plans to establish a new Jewish kindergarten in Potsdam’s Stern district, a residential neighborhood in the city’s southeast, but rising antisemitism has slowed the project amid growing concerns over security and protection.
Initially launched in 2020, the project began when community leaders approached Potsdam city hall for support, with officials backing the plan and exploring the possibility of establishing the kindergarten in an existing, underutilized facility.
However, with antisemitic incidents on the rise and Jews and Israelis increasingly targeted, community leaders now warn that opening the kindergarten could heighten their vulnerability, making it impossible to predict when the facility might open.
“People are afraid of the growing antisemitism,” Evgueni Kutikow, chairman of the Jewish Community of Potsdam, told Märkische Allgemeine. “One mother called me crazy when I asked her if she would enroll her child in a Jewish daycare center.”
Kutikow explained that the daycare center would require specific security measures, but he expressed concern that doing so might draw greater attention to the facility and make it a more visible target.
“As things stand now, I’m skeptical. But I’m also not prepared to abandon the project,” he continued.
Across Germany, synagogues, schools, and other Jewish institutions have had to increase security and protection against antisemitic attacks and potential terror threats — a reality that has intensified and loomed over the community since the start of the war in Gaza.
“But if we take three steps outside, we are completely on our own. We don’t live in a bubble — we see what’s happening around us and across the world,” Kutikow said.
Despite lingering skepticism, he said advocates of the project will continue working with city officials, who remain committed to advancing discussions, exploring new ideas, and promoting the daycare center.
Even though daycare places in the city currently exceed demand, a town hall spokesperson explained the city would still consider establishing a new center if an additional need can be demonstrated.
City officials will determine the costs of renovating and securing the proposed building, while planning to consult the state government on financing.
However, the German Ministry of Education, which has not yet received an application for an operating license, holds the final decision on the project.
Like most countries across Europe and the broader Western world, Germany has seen a shocking rise in antisemitic incidents over the last two years, in the wake of the Hamas-led invasion of and massacre across southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023.
Most recently, unknown individuals vandalized the memorial at a local synagogue in Kiel, a city in the northwestern part of the country, destroying items left by people honoring the victims of the Holocaust — including a Star of David, candles, and a photograph.
According to newly released figures from the German Ministry of the Interior, antisemitic incidents continued to rise last year, with 2,122 offenses reported in Berlin alone, including 60 violent attacks.
This represents a significant increase of 80 percent compared with the already high number of incidents in previous years, with Berlin police recording 901 such offenses in 2023 and 1,622 in 2024.
Last month, the commissioner to combat antisemitism in the German state of Hesse sounded the alarm after an arson attack on a synagogue in Giessen, warning that it reflects a “growing pogrom-like atmosphere” threatening Jewish life across the country.
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