Zurich – The manager of a hotel in Switzerland said she was wrong to post signs instructing “Jewish guests” to shower before entering the pool and to access the refrigerator at set times.
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Ruth Thomann, who runs the Paradies Arosa hotel 80 miles southeast of Zurich, responded Monday to articles published in Israeli media outlets about the signs put up by hotel staff over the weekend.
“I have nothing against Jews, whom we regularly receive warmly here,” she told JTA on Monday. “I may have selected the wrong words; the signs should have been addressed to all the guests instead of Jewish ones.”
Thomann removed the signs following complaints.
A report about the signs prompted Tzipi Hotovely, Israel’s deputy foreign minister, to condemn the hotel’s actions as “an anti-Semitic act of the worst and ugliest kind,” as her office said in a statement Monday. Hotovely said Thomann should be prosecuted for a hate crime and suggested the signs were indicative of the anti-Semitism throughout Europe.
“Unfortunately, anti-Semitism in Europe is still a reality and we must make sure that the punishment for incidents such as these will serve as deterrents for those who still harbor the germ of anti-Semitism,” Hotovely said.
Thomann said her staff allowed only the Jewish guests as a courtesy to put food in the refrigerator normally reserved for staff.
“The sign was addressed to Jewish guests simply because the other guests are not allowed to put food in the fridge, and we wanted our Jewish guests to access the food only at set times because otherwise it was an impossible situation,” she said.
She also said that only the hotel’s Jewish guests went into the pool while wearing T-shirts and without showering first.
This prompted staff to put up a sign reading: “To our Jewish Guests: Please take a shower before you go swimming and although after swimming. If you break the rules, I’m forced to cloes the swimming pool for you.” [sic]
The sign about the refrigerator read: “To our Jewish guests: You are allowed to approach the fridge between the hours: 10.00-11.00 in the morning and 16.30-17.30 in the evening. I hope you understand that our team does not like to be disturbed every time.”
Thomann said that while the hotel wants its Jewish guests to feel at home, “the behavior of some of those guests is making other guests feel uncomfortable, and we received complaints so we need to be responsible for all our guests and find a balance.”
The Jewish guests, she said, include Orthodox Jews from the United Kingdom, Belgium and Israel.
She could have just stated “TO ALL OF OUR GUESTS, PLEASE SHOWER”. If it was Protestant or Catholic guests who were not showering before using the pool, I doubt if she would have mentioned their ethnic backgrounds.
we gotta stop this nonsense not everything everyone says is directed to hurt the jews. It is know that arosa turns into a bet shemesh in the summer months. all goyim flee the area. So she was actually nice in addressing the guest in a personal way.
she wasnt saying “jews, you must shower” rather to our jewish guests (read our only guests in the summer and you are very welcomed) etc” she (just like me) doesnt speak a proper english as you can tell by her spelling..
PPL get a grip on yourself.
“”A report about the signs prompted Tzipi Hotovely, Israel’s deputy foreign minister, to condemn the hotel’s actions as “an anti-Semitic act of the worst and ugliest kind,””
These Israeli officials are shameless opportunist of the worst kind.
Hey Tzipi,
NO one cares what you or anyone of your government says. Just leave worldwide Jewry alone. We dont really care about YOU sticking up for us.
Yidden should just go to another hotel from now on. Clearly they are not wanted in this hotel and are considered a burden. Why Yidden insist on hiring cleaning ladies that despise you, and going to hotels that depsie you is beyond comprehension.
What she really meant was, heimishe yiddin – the one who think that rules do not apply to you, this rule does apply to you.
someone should tell the anti Semite to learn English before she puts up an incoherent sign
Why do the Israeli’s think that they always have to get involved in anything that involves Jews? They only get matters worse, the fact that the jewish guests had the option to keep their perishables in the Hotel’s private refrigerator just goes to show that they’re very welcome, the lady is just not very fluent in English, & as she said that the jewish guests go into the pool with their tops & vests that means that they never showered before hand, so she quite rightly asked them to shower,
I have been in Arosa and Davos many times during the summer. I am a Chassidishe Yid from London so I don’t think anyone can accuse me of being anti semitic. Unfortunately the behaviour of many of the haredishe olam in Switzerland is too embarrassing for words. OK so you don’t think it is tznius to go in the swimming pool without a T shirt but please realise that is not the Swiss way. Likewise the Swiss shower before they go into a public pool and as the owner said “only the hotel’s Jewish guests went into the pool while wearing T-shirts and without showering first.” The Jewish guests are allowed to use the staff refrigerator but that does not mean there is 24/7 access to it. Haredi and Swiss cultural mores are so different it is really no surprise that there is friction. My wife and I come from generations of Chassidishe mishpochos and we are the second and third generations to live in England. I guess we have absorbed what some say are the goyish ways of our neighbours. We understand asher bochur buni to mean that we have to behave bedarchei noam towards everyone. We don’t understand it to mean we can do whatever we want whenever we want and if the goyim don’t like it, who cares.
She is 100% on target unfortunately the heimish crowd thinks they can do what they want regardless of decency .just go to any Mika and see how many men don’t shower or sit in the hot mikva scratching themselves . Stop screaming anti Semitic just be decent human beings
They are not being anti-semitic, they are being anti the Jews who dont follow the local health & hygiene rules, and disturb the hotel staff kitchen.
They could have worded it in a more P.C. way, but why beat around the bush; it is the Jews who are blatantly flouting the local rules/customs.
It does not matter if the only guests breaking the rules were Jewish. A hotel should not single out a race when stating their rules. If they’d said the exact same thing but targeted African Americans you’d be seeing it on every newscast with strong condemnation from every corner demanding an apology, calling for a boycott, and claiming racism. Because that is exactly what this was….but against Jews.
I actually read about this problem occuring in Germany relating to Moslems. It seems that wearing extra clothing in a pool, especially if the clothing is sweaty or not pristine, causes an immediate need for more Chlorine to maintain proper levels. It is not for me to judge waht the halacha should be but maybe in such a case JUST DON’T SWIM.
It seems from the articl that the sign was placed on the refrigerator which was only accesible to staff and Jews so I can understand that the letter was not rracist in intent.
The rules are to take a shower before you go into the pool Saturday morning some of them use it for A Mikva and they do not take showers and she noticed that that’s why she wrote that nothing personal. Either way some of these guys do need serious showers
not every thing is anti-Semitic. It could be the lousy English of the proprietor, but why should we jump on an assumption?
Why go to countries & hotels where they despise us? Why don’t you come to Israel for a vacation, there are lovely hotels with the highest standards of Kashrus & tznius, like Nir Etzion. I wish I could go back there. If you have the money for nice vacations in “pretty” countries, spend your money in a place where you are welcomed. I don’t care what the reasoning behind the notice was, targeting Jews is abhorrent, and typical of European WASP countries.