(Jewish Group)Berlin has 290 streets named for people who expressed antisemitic views,analysis finds
The 19th-century German historian who coined the phrase, later popularized by the Nazis, “the Jews are our misfortune” has a street named for him in Berlin. So does a 15th-century official who supported a murderous purge of Jews from his region, and a competitive athlete who was a darling of the Nazi regime.
In all, at least 290 streets or squares in Berlin are named for people who espoused antisemitic views, according to a new analysis conducted by the city’s commissioner in charge of fighting antisemitism.
Samuel Salzborn, a scholar of political science who was appointed to the commissioner role last year, is not calling for the names of the streets to be changed. Instead, he told the German broadcaster RBB that his office initiated the study to “create a systematic basis for an important social discussion.”
That discussion includes how to reckon with the fact that antisemitism was a mainstream view for centuries in Germany, meaning that many people who made significant contributions to the broader society may have expressed antisemitic views. For example, Martin Luther, the 16th-century German theologian who initiated Protestantism, called to persecute and banish Jews. Martinlutherstrasse runs through a trendy area of Berlin.
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