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.