“To see people with symbols of right-wing extremists on the steps of the Reichstag building is unbearable for democrats,” said Central Council President Josef Schuster.

“Unfortunately, the right-wing extremists have succeeded in doing what they wanted to achieve, namely to produce provocative images that are now being widely distributed.”

The Central Council of Jews in Germany has strongly condemned violence by extreme-rightists activists that happened Saturday on the sidelines of a demonstrations against the corona protective measures in Berlin.

Several hundred protesters, some associated with an antisemitic movement, stormed through a group of police officers to the doors of the Bundestag, Germany’s parliament building, before being removed by other officers.

The demonstrators from the Reichsburger (Reich Citizens) movement were among some 38,000 people who showed up for a rally to protest the country’s coronavirus restrictions.

“To see people with symbols of right-wing extremists on the steps of the Reichstag building is unbearable for democrats,” said Central Council President Josef Schuster.

“Unfortunately, the right-wing extremists have succeeded in doing what they wanted to achieve, namely to produce provocative images that are now being widely distributed.”

For the democratic parties and security authorities, this should have been a final warning shot, the Central Council of Jews continued. “If right-wing extremist demonstrations are expected, our democratic institutions must be better protected on such days. A well-fortified democracy must not only be legally but also factually secured. ”

The Reichsburger, which had some 16,500 members as of two years ago, has been described as an assembly of groups and individuals who sometimes espouse violence in their “fight against the Federal Republic of Germany.” They believe that the 1937 German empire still exists, and many of them deny that the Holocaust happened.

Several hundred were arrested in incidents at both the Reichstag building and the nearby Brandenburg Gate.

Among those arrested was celebrity vegan chef and cookbook author Attila Hildmann, who has been spreading coronavirus conspiracy myths at rallies for months. He has also pushed antisemitic conspiracy theories online.

On Monday, German Chancellor Angela Merkel reacted to the events through her spokesman Steffen Seibert. One has seen an example at the weekend of how some people had abused the freedom to demonstrate during a demonstration, he said.

“The result were shameful pictures on the Reichstag,” emphasized Seibert. He spoke of “anti-democrats” who tried to “make their way” on the steps of the democratic parliament.

For the government anti-Semitism Commissioner, Felix Klein, the advance of demonstrators on the stairs of the Reichstag building is a taboo break.

“It’s shocking and a red line crossing,” Klein said. Black-white-red flags were supposed to evoke “worst memories”. “This is an attack on the heart of democracy,” he said.

The German-Israeli Society (DIG) also condemned the violence at the weekend. “The pictures of imperial flags at the entrance to the German Bundestag make us shudder,” said DIG President Uwe Becker.

When right-wing extremists stormed the steps of the Reichstag building and thus expressed the violent attack on parliamentary democracy, “every decently thinking person in our country must realize that this is not about opponents of wearing a mask, but about opponents of our liberal order,” he said.

“We as a society must not allow the Nazis to lay hands on the Reichstag again. We must not allow the Reichstag building to burn again one day,” Becker added.

‘’It is frightening that 75 years after the liberation of Auschwitz and the unconditional surrender of Nazi Germany there is a significantly increasing number of right-wing extremists,’’ stressed Becker.

The Jewish community in Frankfurt also expressed its concern about the events. “The events in Berlin have shown once again that the so-called anti-corona demonstrations are shamelessly misused as a platform for neo-Nazis and anti-Semitic conspiracy theorists,” it said.

“The Corona crisis must not lead to anti-Semites and racists being given a boost.”