‘Juden Verboten’: Performer at Soho Theater in London Chases Out Jewish Audience Members While Davos Ski Shop Refuses to Serve Jews

“Juden Verboten.” “Jews Prohibited.” These words appeared almost out of nowhere in Germany under the National Socialist regime and Adolf Hitler in the 1930s, forbidding Jews from public life including shops, hotels, and restaurants. One might be forgiven for thinking such a thing could not happen in a modern-day Western European nation.
But one would be wrong to think so.
In fact, it was a particularly bad week to be Jewish in several major European cities as the equivalent of “Juden Verboten” signs went up and Jews were harassed and forced to leave. The stories are all too reminiscent of when, in September 1935, the National Socialist leaders announced a set of three new laws to further regulate and exclude Jews from German society known as the Nürnberger Gesetze or Nuremberg Laws.
The Nürnberger Gesetze also served as the legal basis for the arrest of ,and violence against, Jews that would soon follow.  The Nuremberg Laws were created in response to Hitler’s demands for broadened citizenship laws that could support the more racial-biological anti-Jewish legislation that would later come about to reflect the principles of the Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei, or National Socialist German Workers’ Party, which had been outlined in Hitler’s 25-Punkte-Programm, or 25 Point Program.
The 25-Punkte-Programm most notably included language in Point 24 that “Sie bekämpft den jüdisch-materialistischen Geist in und außer uns,” or, referring to the NSDAP, “[I]t combats the Jewish-materialistic spirit in and around us.”
A ski shop in the Swiss Alps and a theater in London are now in the spotlight after attempting to enforce such rules and effectively exclude Jews from society.
The operator of the Davoser Bergstation Pischa, a hotel-restaurant in the Swiss resort town where the World Economic Forum is hosted each year, posted a notice in Hebrew saying that Jewish customers were no longer welcome to rent equipment.
“Due to several very annoying incidents, including the theft of a sled, we no longer rent sports equipment to our Jewish brothers,” the manager, Ruedel Pfiffner, wrote on the sign, translated from the Hebrew. “This applies to all sports equipment such as sleds, airboards, skis and snowshoes.” A social media post from Jehude Spielman, a city councilor in Zürich, drew attention to the sign.
Meanwhile, in London, Jewish audience members at the Soho Theatre were “subjected to verbal abuse” in the course of a performance last weekend.
The incident took place on Saturday near the end of a one-hour Shtoom show by Paul Currie.
According to a witness who gave an account to the Campaign Against Antisemitism, Currie placed Ukrainian and Palestinian flags on the stage, and invited the 200 audience members in attendance at the central London theater  to stand and applaud. The witness told the CAA that, “when we all sat down again, [Currie] looked towards a young man sitting in the second row and said, ‘You didn’t stand, why? Didn’t you enjoy my show?’” The man, who turned out to be Israeli, replied, “ I enjoyed your show until you brought out the Palestinian Authority flag.”
The witness said that this is when Currie became abusive.  “Get out of my show, get the fuck out of here,” Currie screamed at the young man. “Fuck off, get the fuck out of here,” his rant continued. Other members of the audience joined in the chant, shouting “Get Out” and “Free Palestine.”
The theater, meanwhile, apologized for the incident in a statement on its website.
“We are sorry and saddened by an incident that took place at our venue at the end of a performance of Paul Currie: Shtoom on Saturday 10 February which has caused upset and hurt to members of audience attending and others,” the message read.
“We take this very seriously and are looking into the detail of what happened as thoroughly, as sensitively, and as quickly as we can. It is important to us that Soho Theatre is a welcoming and inclusive place for all.”
A message to Currie sent via social media remained unanswered at press time. Currie also recently restricted his Instagram audience to individuals whom he first approves.
In a statement, the CAA said, “What the Jewish audience members have recounted is atrocious, and we are working with them and our lawyers to ensure that those who instigated and enabled it are held to account.”
“These allegations are of deeply disturbing discriminatory abuse against Jews. Comedians are rightly given broad latitude, but hounding Jews out of theatres is reminiscent of humanity’s darkest days, and must have no place in central London in 2024.”
Meanwhile, the police in Davos said that they have opened an investigation into the potential violation of Swiss laws that ban discrimination and incitement of hatred.
“The poster is undisputedly discriminatory … that shocks me,” said Jonathan Kreutner, secretary-general of the Swiss Federation of Jewish Communities, adding that “[T]his really is a new level of audacity. This is antisemitism.”
Initially Kreutner said the federation was planning separate legal action but he later said it would likely defer to the regional prosecutor to deal with the issue.
(Photo: Accura Media Group)