Lufthansa was fined a record $4 million for the horrific treatment of Orthodox Jewish passengers departing from New York.

The disturbing incident took place on May 4, 2022, when 131 travelers boarded a German airline flight at JFK Airport, bound for Budapest, Hungary, with a stopover in Frankfurt, Germany .

The men were on their way to a memorial event for an Orthodox rabbi when Lufthansa employees barred 128 of them, dressed in distinctive traditional clothing, from boarding their connecting flight due to “the alleged misconduct of some passengers,” the US Department of Transportation (DOT) said. ) said.

Crew members alleged that during the first leg of the flight, some passengers repeatedly ignored the airline’s mask policy because German law at the time required masks to be worn due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Although the numerous men were not all associated with each other, “Lufthansa treated them all as if they were one group and denied them boarding due to the alleged bad behavior of a few,” it said. the agency said Tuesday.

Lufthansa was fined $4 million for the mistreatment of 128 Orthodox Jewish men who were traveling from JFK to Frankfurt, Germany, on May 4, 2022. (Pictured: Horrific scenes at the airport)

The men were on their way to a memorial event for an Orthodox rabbi when Lufthansa employees barred them from boarding their connecting flight due to “alleged misconduct by some passengers.” (photo: stock image)

The major penalty, prompted by civil rights violations, is the largest the DOT has ever imposed on an airline, the agency revealed.

“No one should face discrimination when traveling, and today’s action sends a clear message to the airline industry that we are prepared to investigate and take action whenever rights civilians of passengers are being violated,” said US Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg.

“From combating long ramp delays to ensuring passengers are properly refunded, our department has stepped up enforcement efforts to hold airlines accountable for their treatment to passengers, and we will continue to push the industry to serve passengers with the fairness and dignity they deserve. .’

Video of the incident recorded at the time showed airline staff telling the men they were not allowed to board.

An employee spoke to one of the men and told him that the situation would have been the same if they had been “African” and that because of a passenger on the first flight, “everyone has to pay.” .

A man then asked why non-Jewish people were allowed on the plane and not.

Although the large group of men were not all associated with each other, “Lufthansa treated them all as if they were one group and denied them boarding due to the alleged misconduct of some some”.

“Because it’s 2022 and we’re in a Western country, so this needs to be escalated to senior management because it smacks of anti-Semitism,” he told the staffer .

“Because the Jews from JFK,” she replied before he interrupted and said, “Oh, so the Jews from JFK are paying for the crimes of a few people?”

“The Jews who caused the disorder, who created the problems…” she said.

The angry passenger asked, “So the Jews on the plane created a problem, so all Jews are banned from Lufthansa for the day?” »

“Just for this flight,” the staff member replied.

Another clip showed tense scenes inside the airport as the large Orthodox group was approached by armed police.

Some of them interacted with the masked police officers and one of them said, “Why do you hate us?

Another person then called them “Nazis” as a male officer became visibly angry.

‘Who was it? Who was it? Who said that?’, the officer asked, pointing to a man in the group and asking him to come towards him.

“You don’t know it was him.” You guess it,” one of the Jewish men said.

A tense video of the incident shows police blocking the group of Orthodox Jews from passing, while someone in the crowd called the officers “Nazis.”

The officer became frustrated and began walking toward the men and asked, “Who said the N-word?”

The Orthodox men looked around as a passenger said, “Sir, I’m sorry for what happened, but you can understand how he feels, right?”

Another man then called a female officer and explained to her that these were Americans who “did nothing” and who “didn’t intend to do anything,” adding that this had no effect. “no sense” to him.

At the time, Nachman Kahana, one of the banned passengers, told the Jewish newspaper Hamodia: “They explicitly said that no one dressed the same on this (JFK) plane would board the JFK plane. Lufthansa to Budapest. »

In a statement to Hamodia at the time, Lufthansa acknowledged that a group had been prevented from boarding a connecting flight, but rejected accusations of anti-Semitism.

“We believe the allegations of anti-Semitism are unjustified and baseless,” the airline said.

“We confirm that a larger group of passengers could not be transported today on Lufthansa flight LH1334 from Frankfurt to Budapest, as travelers refused to wear the legally required mask on board.”

Passengers accused Lufthansa of anti-Semitism. In a statement to the Jewish newspaper Hamodia, Lufthansa acknowledged the incident but denied any anti-Semitic motivation.

On May 10, Lufthansa released an updated statement, saying it “regrets the circumstances surrounding the decision to exclude passengers” from the flight and apologized.

“Lufthansa and its employees support the goal of connecting people and cultures around the world,” adding that “diversity and equal opportunities are core values ​​for our company.”

According to the DOT, the captain of the first flight from New York “alerted Lufthansa security that some passengers were not following the crew’s instructions and were connecting on another flight to Budapest.”

The agency noted that the airline “subsequently failed to identify a single passenger who allegedly failed to follow crew members’ instructions.”

“The non-compliant individuals were not named and Lufthansa staff acknowledged that refusal to transport the entire group could result in the exclusion of passengers who had complied with the crew’s instructions on the LH 401, but concluded that it was not practical to address each passenger individually,” the DOT said. said.

Days after the incident, Ambassador Deborah Lipstadt, a renowned Holocaust survivor who was sworn in as a special envoy to monitor and combat anti-Semitism in March 2022, told NBC News that the incident had left her “very worried”.

“(When) I first heard it, I said, ‘Oh, that must be wrong. Someone must have misreported that.’And then of course, it turned out to be absolutely right – and worse than we thought,” she told the outlet.

A few days after the incident, Ambassador Deborah Lipstadt (photo) highlighted the “terrible irony” of the dramatic scene: the Orthodox men were banned from a German national airline.

On May 10, Lufthansa released an updated statement, saying it “regrets the circumstances surrounding the decision to exclude passengers” from the flight and apologized.

She pointed out that the “terrible irony” of the dramatic scene is that Orthodox men were banned by a German national airline, adding that it was a case of “classic prejudice”.

Following the incident, the DOT received more than 40 “complaints of discrimination from Jewish passengers” involved, prompting the Aviation Consumer Protection (OACP) to open an investigation.

The airline told NPR it fully cooperated with the investigation and apologized repeatedly.

Although it called the incident “regrettable,” the airline denied its employees were discriminatory, a consent order detailed.

Lufthansa said it was committed to training its staff “to combat anti-Semitism and discrimination.”

“Lufthansa is dedicated to being an ambassador of goodwill, tolerance, diversity and acceptance,” the airline added.

According to NPR, the airline will pay $2 million and the DOT will credit Lufthansa an additional $2 million for compensation the agency had to pay to those affected.