German firm to Israeli client: Jews are a disease (JERUSALEM POST) By GIL SHEFLER 05/03/12)
Source: http://www.jpost.com/International/Article.aspx?id=268476
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Eti Doron wanted to buy toys from a company in Germany for her store
in Tel Aviv, but when the deal fell through she started receiving
anti-Semitic letters.
Doron provided The Jerusalem Post with emails in which Walter Adler,
who identifies as the founder of Hoff-Interieur, a manufacturer based
in Nuremberg, calls Jews a disease and praises German poet Günther
Grass for saying Israel is a danger to world peace.
“We see that you have decided to be a real Jew, not only a liar but
also a cheater,” he wrote in an email. “Your abominable behavior has
brought us a big loss. We must remember what was an aphorism over
many hundred years in Europe, that some people with your origin are
the pestilence-plague for human being. We never thought that this is
true, but you confirmed.”
The letter sent from a Hoff- Interieur email address goes on to
laud “the great” Grass for saying Israel imperils “world piece” [sic]
and lament the “tortures and murders” carried out by Israel against
the Palestinians. It ends with the author threatening to arrest Doron
if she comes near the company’s stalls.
Doron said she was deeply shocked by the letter, especially because
she said no goods ever exchanged hands and the proposed business
transaction was small.
“First, I don’t owe them anything,” she said. “I saw their products
at a toy fair and tried to place an order for 600 euros but they
could not receive a credit card payment and I backed out. I never
received anything from them. In any case, nothing warrants this kind
of reply.”
Numerous emails sent to Hoff-Interieur went unanswered.
An answering machine at the company said it was closed for vacation
until May 7.
The German-Israeli Chamber of Industry and Commerce on Wednesday
recommended Doron sue Hoff- Interieur.
“We’re not even interested in the business aspect of the deal, this
is the most anti- Semitic and vile response one can imagine with all
the stereotypes of Jews,” said CEO Grisha Alroi-Arloser. “If you look
at blogs today in Germany after what Günther Grass said then there is
a real problem, a deep-rooted issue that needs to be addressed.”
The office of Arno Hamburger, the head of the Jewish community in
Nuremberg, said on Wednesday he would investigate the allegations of
anti-Semitism. (© 1995-2011, The Jerusalem Post 05/03/12)
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