Manager of Swiss Hotel Apologizes for ‘Wrong Words' in Sign to ‘Jewish Guests'

Accused of being anti-Semitic, the manager at a hotel in Switzerland apologizes for using the "wrong words" after two signs she approved sparked outrage worldwide for its singling out of Jewish customers.

— Jake Goldman (@chaim_aron) August 15, 2017

​The first sign read: "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 [close] the swimming pool for you."

But it didn't stop there. A second sign also popped up in regards to a refrigerator, it read: "To Our Jewish Guests: You are allowed to approach the fridge between the house: 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."

However, Ruth Thomann, who runs the Paradies Arosa hotel near Zurich stated she has "nothing against Jews," she told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency, adding "the signs should have been addressed to all the guests instead of Jewish ones."

The hotelier went on to include that despite wanting Jewish guests to feel at home, "the behavior of some of those guests [were] making other guests feel uncomfortable, and we received complaints so we [needed] to be responsible for all our guests and find a balance."

The troubled manager told JTA that only the hotel's Jewish guests were going into the pool while wearing t-shirts and without showering first. Thomann indicated the guests she was referring to included Orthodox Jews from the United Kingdom, Belgium and Israel.

According to Israel's Deputy Foreign Minister Tzopi Hotovely, the messages were "an anti-Semitic act of the worst and ugliest kind."

"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 added in his statement.

Though both signs were taken down, it was not enough to quell calls to boycott the Alpine hotel.

The Simon Wiesenthal Center urged "the broader Jewish community and their Gentile friends to blacklist this horrific hotel" just moments after the country's tourism office also decried the "unfortunate" incident.