Cologne, Germany’s public transportation company put Star of David stickers and the Hebrew-language salutation “shalom” on a vehicle serving one of its busiest tram lines on Wednesday, as part of the buildup to the country’s celebration next year of 1,700 years of Jewish life in Germany.
The move is an initiative of Association 321, which references the fact that Jewish presence was first documented in Germany in the year 321.
The new tram look “is a sign against antisemitism and against racism,” the association wrote on Twitter.
Schalömchen Köln! Heute wird in der Domstadt eine Bahn der @KVBAG eingeweiht, die jüdisches Leben in #Köln zeigt und ein Zeichen gegen #Antisemitismus und #Rassismus setzt. @HenrietteReker @Koeln @mbrkoeln pic.twitter.com/EmdLsgo4Hu
— 2021JLID (@2021JLID) October 21, 2020
The sticker’s full text reads “schalomschen Koeln!” — a diminutive form of the Yiddish-language greeting that is sometimes used in the local dialect of the western German city.