Protesters disrupt marathon reading of Arendt work at Berlin museum

A marathon reading and discussion at a Berlin contemporary art museum of "The Origins of Totalitarianism" - Hannah Arendt's exhaustive account of the rise of Nazism and Stalinism - ended early after disruptions by pro-Palestinian protesters.

German Culture Minister Claudia Roth condemned the "vile" protest, which she described as an anti-Semitic attack.

Sam Bardaouil and Till Fellrath, the co-directors of the Hamburger Bahnhof, said the the performance of "Where Your Ideas Become Civic Actions (100 Hours Reading 'The Origins of Totalitarianism')" by Cuban artist Tania Bruguera was disrupted twice on Saturday by a group of political activists using hate speech.

They said the activists protested first on Saturday afternoon and then came back later in the evening with a larger group of around 20 people. At the second protest an activist insulted a performance participant and once of the museum directors.

Under these circumstances, the open dialogue that was intended with the performance was no longer possible and the artist decided to end it early, the directors said.

"We respect and fully stand by the decision of the artist and refuse categorically any form of hate speech and violence," said Bardaouil and Fellrath on their Instagram channels, adding that safety concerns were also a factor.

The directors did not elaborate on what was said by the activists.

"Hatred, anti-Semitism, racism and such forms of violence are absolutely unacceptable and have no place in the arts or anywhere else," Roth said on Sunday.

"This vile anti-Semitism and racism was obviously aimed directly at a Jewish cultural worker, the Cuban artist and a director of the Hamburger Bahnhof."