Veteran Nazi-hunter warns over surging far-right in Germany

insisted that Islamists were not the only danger to Jews in France: there is also the far-right Front National. Asked why some 14 per cent of French Jews voted for the FN, she said: “These are North African Jews who believe that once in power the FN would protect them from the Islamists, which I don’t believe because they are demagogues just like Hitler.”

Mrs Klarsfeld’s criticism of far-right violence in Germany is based on her experience with Nazi atrocities.

“First the books went on fire, then the synagogues were burned down and now refugee centres go up in flames,” she said.

“Back then, Jews were to blame for everything — they were allegedly ruling the world. These days, politicians in Germany incite people by telling them, ‘the refugees take your money and because of the refugees there are no good schools in Germany’, so even people who are not radical say, ‘we have to suffer because of the refugees’.”

Mrs Klarsfeld also accuses German police for failing to protect refugees. “So many attacks were not possible if the police had acted properly,” she said. “The police seem to turn a blind eye to the far right.”

In 1970, Mrs Klarsfeld was arrested in Poland after protesting against the official antisemitic politics; in 1971 she demonstrated in Prague for the same reason. In 1986 in Beirut, she tried to bring about the release of Jews who had been kidnapped by a jihadi group. In recent years, the couple has been documenting the fate of 11,000 French Jewish children who were sent to the death camps.

In 2012, Mrs Klarsfeld was selected by the socialist left-wing party, Die Linke, as its presidential candidate, but she lost to current president Joachim Gauck, who in 2015 awarded her and her husband the highest German decoration. In February 2016, Israeli Interior Minister Aryeh Deri accepted an initiative by Yad Vashem to grant her Israeli citizenship for her efforts on behalf of the Jewish people and Israel. Mr Deri called on the Klarsfelds to make aliyah. “Serge is already an Israeli citizen and my son has served with the Israeli border patrol,” said the 77-year-old. She is not considering emigrating to Israel, “but if the Front National ever comes to power and Marine Le Pen becomespresident, we would have to leave. That’s clear because we’ve invested so much in fighting the FN.”