Swiss Hotel Posts Signs Telling Jews To Shower Before Entering Pool
Graphic by Angelie Zaslavsky
(JTA) — 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.
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. “The signs should have been addressed to all the guests instead of Jewish ones.”
Thomann removed the signs following complaints.
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]
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.”
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