Demonstrations against coronavirus restrictions have taken place across Germany. Photo: Reuters / Kai Pfaffenbach.

The southern German city of Munich has banned the use of Nazi-era “Judenstern” badges and signs at demonstrations protesting the government response to the coronavirus pandemic.

The ban came into effect ahead of last Saturday’s rally in Munich, a police spokesman said, adding that no violations were reported. Future displays of the yellow Star of David — which Jews were compelled by the Nazis to wear on their outer clothing — will be punishable with a fine, the spokesman said.

At rallies throughout Germany to counter the coronavirus restrictions, some demonstrators were seen appropriating the imagery of Nazi antisemitism and the Holocaust, along with its associated conspiracy theories. Participants have worn the “Judenstern” in a direct nod to the Nazi persecution of the Jews, but labeled instead “Not Vaccinated” and “CoV-2.”

In an interview last week, the top German official combating antisemitism expressed concern that the coronavirus demonstrations were being taken over by antisemitic extremists.

The protests had become “a melting pot for antisemites, conspiracy nuts, Holocaust relativists and enemies of democracy who try to monopolize people for their own purposes,” the official, Felix Klein, said in an interview with the Judische Allgemeine newspaper.

Antisemitic outrages in Germany rose by nearly 14 percent in 2019, with more than 2,000 incidents reported, according to figures released by the Federal Ministry of the Interior.