BERLIN (EJP)---237 Jewish cemeteries were reported desecrated in Germany, between 2002 and 2006, an average of around 50 a year, the daily newspaper Taggespiel reported, quoting the German Interior Ministry.

This phenomenon culminated in 2002 with 60 desecrations against 39 in 2006, the ministry said in reply to a question by Petra Pau, a leader of the Left Party in the Bundestag or Parliament.

There are approximately 2,000 Jewish cemeteries in Germany.

" I am shocked,” declared the secretary general of the central Council of the Jews in Germany, calling for the designation of a governmental representative for the fight against the extreme-right and anti-Semitism.

The Council has on many occasions warned of a growth in anti-Semitic activity in Germany in the past year but it was reproached by others “to create panic.” "Today we see that our attitude was justified,” he said.

Gert Weisskirche, responsible for the combat against anti-Semitism for the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), said he now wishes to discuss various proposals with an informal group of parliamentarians, including the ideas of having an official government representative to deal with anti-Semitism, of creating a commission of enquiry, or of having an annual government report on anti-Semitism.

In September, a rabbi was seriously injured after being stabbed in the street in Frankfurt by a young German of Afghan origin and a swastika was painted on a wall of the synagogue in Paderborn.