‘Like 1930s Germany’ – UK Jewish family terrified after baby’s documents defaced

British-Jewish parents shocked to discover that government employee ripped their baby’s birth certificate and scribbled out the word “Israel” on the document.

By World Israel News Staff

A British-Jewish couple were horrified after discovering that baby’s birth certificate was defaced by a government employee, telling UK media that the incident left them questioning their future in the country.

Israel and Dorit, who did not not disclose their last name out of fear for their safety, included their baby’s birth certificate to the Home Office as part of a passport application. The birth certificate included that both parents were born in Israel.

The couple were shocked to find that upon receiving the birth certificate back in the mail, an employee at the Home Office had scribbled out the word Israel and ripped the document, rendering it invalid.

“We felt as if we had been taken back to 1930s Germany where the Nazis would put notes on Jewish people’s documentation,” Israel told the Daily Mail.

“It is completely warped and it hurts my heart that my daughter is not even six-months-old, and she has already been discriminated [against] in the worst way.”

Israel said that his family would now have to deal with the bureaucratic headache of replacing the documentation that was damaged.

“Unfortunately this birth certificate is not valid any more because it’s been scribbled on. So this person has destroyed my child’s identity, their birth certificate, just because it’s a Jewish [child],” he said.

Israel added that the incident was particularly troubling because the act was carried out by someone employed by the British government.

“We are terrified because if this is the environment within the Home Office this is not a place we want to live. We are just as British as everyone else,” he said.

Since the outbreak of the Israel-Hamas war, Israel explained, the family has felt as though they could be attacked due to their religion.

“We are hiding our identity as much as we can and we are telling our children to hide any signs of being Jewish because the environment around here is not friendly towards Jewish people.

“We are seen as targets and we have seen a sharp rise in the hostile environment.”

A spokesperson for the Campaign Against Antisemitism watchdog group told the Daily Mail that “this is completely unacceptable.

“When sending off a passport application to the Home Office, the last thing one should ever expect is to have their child’s birthday certificate returned, torn, with the parent’s place of birth scribbled out, just because it is the Jewish state.”

Home Secretary James Cleverly wrote on X that he was launching an immediate investigation into the incident.