A protester demonstrating against the Green Pass plan (health pass), a certificate that shows if someone has received at least the first dose of the vaccine, has tested negative or has recently recovered from COVID-19, wears a Second World War emblem depicting the star of David badge with a German word “Jude” (Jew), as a health pass certificate has become mandatory to access an array of services and leisure activities, in Rome, Italy, August 14, 2021. REUTERS/Remo Casilli

Antisemitic incidents at protests against measures to contain the COVID-19 pandemic have seen another rise in Germany in recent months, amid a debate to make vaccination against the illness mandatory, a new report revealed Friday.

Anti-Jewish statements were recorded at 91 demonstrations in Germany between Nov. 20 and Jan. 8, according to data released by RIAS, a Berlin-based monitoring institute that seeks to capture antisemitic incidents that fall below the criminal threshold. At 81 of the registered incidents, antisemitic content was connected to the Nazi era. Another 10 cases involved antisemitic conspiracy theories and similar subjects.

The incidents were reported across 14 federal states. RIAS believes that a high number of cases go unreported.

Since the outbreak of the pandemic, some anti-vaccination activists in Germany have taken to the streets, comparing social restrictions placed on individuals refusing the vaccines with the plight of Jews racially persecuted by the Nazi regime. At many rallies against the government’s coronavirus response, protesters have been seen wearing yellow “Jews’ star,” or “Judenstern,” badges and other symbols associated with the Nazi era.

“The wearing of the ‘Jewish star’ has been publicly criticized for some time and such incidents are now also increasingly being reported by the local police,” RIAS stated in the report. “In response, new ciphers to get around this are being used. For example, yellow bracelets with the inscription ‘unvaccinated’ or variations of the ‘Jewish star’ are increasingly worn.”

German lawmakers last week debated whether to introduce compulsory COVID-19 inoculation. The president of the Central Council of Jews in Germany, Josef Schuster, warned earlier this month that a vaccine mandate may spur a stronger wave of antisemitism connected to the pandemic. RIAS pointed out that in December alone, there were 67 gatherings at which antisemitic content was reported.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, who backs compulsory vaccination, suggested in November that it would take effect this year, in February or March. Yet the passage of such a mandate could still encounter legal hurdles, as well as opposition from some lawmakers within Germany’s coalition government.