Chancellor Angela Merkel said today Germany must tackle disguised "middle-class anti-Semitism" and attacked those who were silent about the country's painful past.
Speaking ahead of a memorial day for victims of the Nazi era nearly 75 years after Adolf Hitler's party came to power, Ms Merkel said that while anti-Semitism was often linked to poorer communities, the middle-class was also to blame.
"I see, in the educated classes, a more disguised form of anti-Semitism, that is not so readily defined," Ms Merkel said, describing it as "a form of middle-class anti-Semitism".
"There is, in broad parts of the population, an awful silence when faced with all the historical images, with our own history, and this silence is always a danger."
The number of victims of far-right violence in Germany jumped by more than 25 per cent in the first nine months of 2007, and violent anti-Semitic crime was also up according to Interior Ministry data.
"We know we have a special responsibility in the fight against anti-Semitism, racism and intolerance," Bundestag President Norbert Lammert said, echoing comments from Ms Merkel.
"It is shameful that in our country we need such a large police presence in order to protect Jewish people from attacks," he said.
The memorial day takes place on Sunday, the same day as state elections, the run-up to which has been dominated by a divisive debate over crime and foreigners.