German Hotel Rejects Israeli Family: ‘No Jews Allowed
A German hotel near the Czech border sparked outrage after rejecting an Israeli family's reservation with a message barring Jewish guests, prompting investigations and its removal from Booking.com.
The incident occurred this week when the family attempted to book a room at Hotel Zum Hirschen through the online booking platform, according to New York Post. The 120-year-old Bavarian resort is located along the German-Czech border.
The rejection message, written in English, bluntly informed the prospective guests that Jewish people were not allowed to stay at the property. A screenshot of the communication was subsequently shared on social media platform X, sparking immediate outrage.
Following the incident, the family lodged a formal complaint with the Bavarian Justice Ministry’s office responsible for combating antisemitism, as German outlet Die Welt reported. Booking.com swiftly removed the hotel from its platform.
Hotel Management Blames Cybersecurity Issues
Andreas Vogl, the hotel’s junior director, issued a statement claiming the message does not represent the establishment’s values. The hotel owner, identified as another member of the Sperl-Vogl family, attributed what was called a regrettable mistake to human error.
In their apology letter to the family, hotel management offered a complimentary one-week stay to demonstrate they are not discriminatory. The staff claimed they had been dealing with ongoing phishing attacks and fraudulent reservations, which led them to mistakenly assume the Israeli family’s booking request was another fake attempt.
The letter acknowledged that the remark was made out of frustration with numerous fake bookings rather than targeting people of Jewish faith, though it conceded such language was completely unacceptable in a professional business setting.
Jewish Organizations Condemn Incident
The hotel’s explanation and apology failed to calm widespread condemnation. The European Jewish Congress expressed deep disturbance at the incident, noting it echoed dark historical periods in European history.
The organization emphasized that no individual should face denial of hotel accommodations, services, or access to public spaces based on being Jewish.
This case follows another antisemitic incident in late May when two Israeli tourists at a California hotel were confronted by an employee who asked if they were baby killers and shouted slogans supporting Palestine as they left the lobby.
With information from New York Post
