The western German state of North Rhine-Westphalia has announced it will appoint 22 prosecutors as antisemitism officers to combat rising antisemitism and anti-Jewish behavior.
The prosecutors will work out of the public prosecutor’s offices in North Rhine-Westphalia and will work to prosecute hostility against Jews, Jüdische Allgemeine reported.
The new officers will serve as contacts for Jews to reach out to for help with the criminal prosecution of antisemitic acts, the state’s Ministry of Justice said in Düsseldorf on Tuesday.
The prosecutors will also work with authorities in order to study the entirety of the current scope of antisemitism in Germany and its various manifestations.
Nineteen of the 22 antisemitism officers will work for the public prosecutor’s offices and three will work for the general public prosecutor’s offices.
The Justice Ministry said that the officers will help explain decisions in antisemitism cases made by public prosecutors which are not easy for the average person to understand and even cause comprehension issues for criminal law experts.
The Justice Ministry noted that the new officers are needed because antisemitism today is increasingly committed in ways that take advantage of legal grey areas, with many Jews confused over whether the act is illegal and is in fact punishable by law.