The musician Gil Ofarim would have wished for support from other guests for the anti-Semitic incident he described in a Leipzig hotel.

Nobody around him said anything when a hotel employee asked him to remove his Star of David on a chain, Ofarim said on Wednesday in Bild TV.

After the incident, the 39-year-old musician recorded a video in front of the entrance to the "Westin Hotel" on Monday evening and posted it on Instagram on Tuesday.

“It is not the first incident in my life in which I have been confronted with xenophobia, with anti-Semitism.

But I think: once upon a time there was too much, ”said Ofarim.

“I'm glad I did.

I think one should just not shut up anymore and let it go.

I would have only wished that I hadn't been alone at the moment and would have wished that other guests might have overheard. "

Ofarim has not yet received an apology from the hotel.

“My management just got an email that they would like to exchange ideas, talk to each other.

But I have neither received an opinion on this case, nor have I received an apology, nothing at all! "

Employee on leave

After the musician's accusations of anti-Semitism, two employees of the Leipzig hotel were given leave of absence. This initially applies to the duration of the investigation, said a spokeswoman for the Marriott group on Wednesday morning. The Leipziger Volkszeitung and the Bildzeitung had previously reported this.

Ofarim reported in an Instagram video published on Tuesday that he had not been considered by employees when checking into the Westin Hotel because of his Star of David chain. He told how he got into a queue. Again and again people were preferred. When it was his turn after 15 minutes, he asked what that was about. The employee replied: "To straighten the queue," Ofarim himself was in it. Thereupon "someone from the corner" shouted that he should pack his star. The hotel employee also said: "Pack your star."

The police started an investigation and, according to their own statements, wanted to submit the investigation documents to the public prosecutor for a legal review on Wednesday. Olaf Hoppe, spokesman for the Leipzig police, said that the alleged statement by the hotel employee was "clearly anti-Semitic" for him. The police will forward the content of the video to the public prosecutor's office, who will check whether it is relevant to criminal law. Depending on the result, further determination will then be made or not. As Hoppe further explained, the police were not on site during the incident. Ofarim has not yet been spoken to. The authorities know his video and have secured it.

Ofarim himself initially did not want to comment on the incident on Tuesday at the dpa request.

According to his management, he is considering filing a criminal complaint.

He had to digest the events in Leipzig first and was visibly shocked.

"Today would have been his father's birthday, so he doesn't want to give any further personal interviews on this topic for the time being," it said.

The day is generally difficult enough for him.

I ask for your forbearance and understanding.