A hotel in the Bavarian region of Germany has issued an apology after a staff member rejected a booking request from an Israeli customer with the message 'there are no Jews allowed in our hotel.' The incident, which drew comparisons to the Nazi era, was brought to light by Israel's consul general to southern Germany, Talya Lador, who posted the exchange on X.

The hotel, 'Hotel zum Hirschen' near the Czech border, said the message does not reflect its worldview. In an apology email, the hotel offered the guest and his family a free one-week stay 'to get to know us personally, and to prove to you that we are not bad people who discriminate against others.'

The hotel claimed it has been struggling with fraudulent bookings and phishing attempts, and that the Israeli request was wrongly assumed to be fake. 'It was definitely wrong of us to respond in that way,' the hotel wrote, adding that the remark was made out of frustration with fake bookings, not directed at Jewish people.

The Central Council of Jews in Germany called for an investigation. President Josef Schuster said it was 'shocking that someone would not only have such thoughts but also put them down in writing.' The Israeli tourist filed a complaint with the Bavarian Justice Ministry's office for combating antisemitism.

The hotel's owner described the response as a 'regrettable mistake' due to human error. Following the public backlash, the hotel has received threats and calls for murder. Booking.com has removed the hotel from its platform.

Source: www.dw.com