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Living Traditions APPEAL INTERVIEW A MENTSH Supplement Th Europe Meir Shalev Johannes Beermann uringia – GROW UP STORIES OF LOVE DISCREET Lasting Visions OLD CONTINENT AND IMAGINATION HUMANISM

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POPULISM BUILD HOUSES AND DWELL IN THEM

,Mohammed Bin Salman al-Saud’s O ,Mohammed Bin Salman al-Saud’s Still Standing By

mmanuel Macron is a ropean democracies. But even stroke of good fortune for with Emmanuel Macron’s vic- E Europe. The young poli- tory, we should not forget that tician appears to have rescued Marine Le Pen received 11 mil- vecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/de/deed.en his home country and western lion votes in the second round

ps://crea democracies from a plunge into of the presidential election. And the abyss. we should not forget that even In the runoﬀ vote for the though the party of the newly ung Wikimedia h

French presidency, Macron elected president swept the took on Marine Le Pen, head ﬁ rst round of the parliamentary of the National elections, it did

Konrad-Adenauer-S Front. The can- so with the sup- didates of the es- port of only 15 tablished political percent of reg- parties had been istered voters. eliminated during Low voter More than half the ﬁ rst round of “ of French vot- voting. The can- turnout is an ers abstained didate for the rul- from round one ing Socialists was alarm bell for of the legisla- not even able to tive elections. convince every the future of Among voters vecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/, JVG, Frank Rumpenhorst, JVG, JVG, Rumpenhorst, Frank vecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/, JVG, tenth voter. By democracy under 35 years

ps://crea Bauhaus, the art of aesthetic harmony, launched its global success in Weimar almost

extension, if Ma- of age, about 66 cron had not had percent did not a century ago. To this day, Bauhaus dominates Tel Aviv’s urban landscape through the courage to re- go to the polls. its German-Jewish emigrants. The White City is a UNESCO World Heritage site. on 2.0 Generic h sign from his post as econom- This is an alarm bell for the fu- ribu ics minister and launch his own ture of democracy in France – “En marche” political move- and in Europe. ment, the far-right populist Le France is no isolated case. QATAR CONFLICT Pen would have been well-po- Last spring, the former head of Patience no more sitioned to win the presidential the Austrian Green Party, Alex- Europe’s Renaissance vote. Coming from the country ander Van der Bellen, eked out The proclamationon of the revolution, this would a win in the presidential runoff of Mohammed binn have been a dire omen for Eu- election. The candidates of the Salman (MBS) as Dear Readers, established mass parties – the Crown Prince of Social Democrats and the con- Saudi Arabia is a For this issue, we had a no claim to possessing a sim- ` ECONOMY servative People’s Party – had sign of stability lengthy conversation with ple solution to the complex already failed to advance in the and determination Israeli writer Meir Shalev. Israel-Palestine confl ict. fi rst round of the vote. Mean- in the Gulf region. The themes of love and The focus of this issue is while the People’s Party has es- The isolation of Qatar by Egypt, imagination are at the center Europe. In these days after sentially capitulated and hand- Saudi Arabia, and the Gulf Emir- of his work. Shalev, a modest the death of Helmut Kohl, / Flickr 4785998199_ee1510c1ac_o A Dalbéra vecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/, Jean-Pierre Allez la France ed over the keys to 30-year-old ates is a strategic decision in fa- man with a very the people and Foreign Minister Sebastian vor of political moderation and keen judgment, governments of ps://crea Reforms urgently needed Kurz, who is now running the against aggression and terror. is also deeply en- Europe would do PAGE 6 70-year-old party like his own Qatar has long engaged in a policy gaged with the well to recall the fi efdom, hoping to take advan- of appeasement toward Iran and political situa- values exempli- ` RESOURCES tage of his new popularity to its allied terror organizations He- tion in his home fi ed by this great 2.0) h on 2.0 Generic (CC BY form a coalition with the right- zbollah and Hamas. Now Crown country. But he statesman. Kohl ribu wing Freedom Party after a Prince and Defense Minister MBS does not claim and his European snap election. has lost patience. ÌPAGE 2 any superior partners, among These worries are by no means knowledge re- them President limited to Europe. Last Novem- JUDAISM garding the con- François Mitter- ber, the populist Donald Trump fl ict with Israel’s rand, knew that Sustainability won the presidential election in Thou shalt work Arab neighbors. a unifi ed Europe Recycling and upcycling God’s Own Country. Since Janu- Instead he ap- Helmut Kohl would bring ary, Trump has been governing Judaism places a high value on proaches the peace and pros- PAGE 19 according to his own whims. work. In the Jewish ethic, work problem with thoughtful in- perity. This is something ` EXHIBITION In Germany, the tradition- is an integral aspect of social tegrity and life experience, that today’s opportunists al mass parties have enjoyed justice, tzedakah. Charity and and with the aim of achiev- appear to have forgotten. But a long-unchallenged hold on care for the poor are a central ing a humane solution for France’s young president is power. But over the longer command to help them become all sides. This is what makes reviving the idea of Europe. term, Germany will also fi nd self-suffi cient. The very idea of him such a great artist. The French and other Euro- itself facing an uphill battle an unconditional basic income For our Thuringia supple- peans would be well advised against the rise of global popu- contradicts the Jewish tradi- ment, we interviewed Prime to embrace this renaissance Berlin 1937 lism. Here, too, the siren song tion. The Talmud says: “A man Minister Bodo Ramelow. A whole-heartedly. Shadow of things to come of the far-right is lying in wait. who lives from the labor of his man with long years of politi- PAGE 20 Europe needs the élan of Em- hands is greater than the one cal experience, he also makes Jewish Voice

Stadtmuseum Berlin / Oliver Ziebe, Coca-Cola Deutschland, Gerard van der Schaaf / Flickr 8661171028_d52e591301_o A der Schaaf van Deutschland, Gerard Ziebe, Coca-Cola Berlin / Oliver Stadtmuseum manuel Macron. ■ who fears heaven.” ÌPAGE 24 2 | OPINION JEWISH VOICE FROM GERMANY | JULY 2017

EUROPE Grow Up, Old Continent vecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/ By Elisabeth Neu ps://crea to the brink of destruction ermany and Europe have and Germany past the point of come to the conclusion moral collapse. In the wake of G that they need to take this devastation, the countries their fate into their own hands. of Western Europe chose to re- 2.0) h on 2.0 Generic (CC BY And indeed, they should seize linquish a signiﬁ cant portion of ribu the opportunity. Donald Trump’s their independence. “America ﬁ rst” policy has forced Like Romulus and the nations of the Old Continent Remus, they found a to grow up and stand in defense safe harbor and suc- of their own interests – which, cor under the teats of of course, vary among the 28 EU America. American states. This means we must ne- money was crucial gotiate common positions within to the reconstruc- the EU community, lest the Eu- tion of the Euro- ropean Union disintegrate and pean economy. The

its member states decline into shield of US military / Flickr 4785998199_ee1510c1ac_o A Dalbéra Jean-Pierre obscurity. As the EU’s largest ex- power, including the porting country, this would be presence of millions of GIs such that each NATO member spend in turn has helped spur mass the fact that this tendency is particularly painful for Germany. as Elvis Presley, helped secure at least 2 percent of their GDP migration of people to the EU, gaining root here as well. And the freedom and independence on defense is a reasonable one. who often struggle to integrate not just in Hungary and Poland, International solidarity of Western Europe. More than seven decades after and assimilate here. but also in France, Austria, Brit- After just a brief tenure in of- the end of the Second World For highly developed econo- ain, and the Netherlands. There After meeting with President fi ce, President Trump has al- War, it is unreasonable to ex- mies such as the US and the EU is no easy solution to this mood Trump at the G7 summit of ready decided to withdraw the pect that the United States con- states – and Germany in particu- and policy of chauvinism. But leading industrial nations and United States from the Paris tinue to bear the larger share of lar – free trade is a matter of vi- Donald Trump, Hungary’s Vik- at the NATO summit, German Climate Agreement. This is a the burden of ensuring Europe’s tal concern. Donald Trump has tor Orbán, Poland’s Jarosław Chancellor Angela Merkel com- catastrophe of unforeseeable di- security. The EU must do more signaled that he plans to call this Kaczyński, and Austria’s Heinz- mented: “The times in which mensions, both for the US and in this respect. At the same time, into question. But “America fi rst” Christian Strache would be well we could rely fully on others Europe, and for the world. And we must acknowledge the aid should not mean that Washing- advised to remember that they – they are, to an extent, over.” Germany’s Foreign Minister and support that Europe pro- ton gets to dictate all the rules. will be leaving offi ce one day. And even apart from Donald Sigmar Gabriel is correct in his vides to the poorer countries of Balancing the interests of all Their countries, however, will Trump’s at times uncouth man- statement that anyone who does the world. EU countries provide sides will be key. Google, Face- remain, as will the desire of their ner, this is a conclusion that has not stand in opposition to US this aid not simply out of inter- book, and Amazon are just as citizens for freedom and open- been long overdue. policy shares some of the blame. national solidarity, but also as a reliant on global trade as Mer- ness to the world. These values Almost 70 years ago, the ca- But transatlantic relations are matter of self-interest. Hunger cedes, SAP, and Airbus. can best fl ourish in countries tastrophe of the Second World complex. One of the key aspects and underdevelopment outside The election of populist Don- whose citizens and politicians War, which had been launched is the question of security. In Europe’s borders is a driving ald Trump has dismayed many are prepared to assume respon- by Germany, brought Europe this respect, Trump’s demand factor in violence and war. This Europeans. They are ignoring sibility for their actions. ■

QATAR CONFLICT Saudi Arabia and Egypt Want a Stable Middle East

By Rafael Seligmann Since then, the moderate Sunni coun- aggressive regime in Iran. Qatar has thus tries of Egypt and Saudi Arabia have in- supported the Shiite Hezbollah militia he confrontation between Saudi creasingly come to pursue a policy of in Lebanon, the radical Sunni Muslim Arabia, Egypt, the United Arab stability. A clear signal for this policy of Brotherhood in Egypt, and Hamas, the T Emirates, and Bahrain with Qatar equilibrium was the Arab Peace Initia- Muslim Brotherhood’s Palestinian off - is a serious one. At stake is the future di- tive, launched by Saudi Arabia in 2002. shoot in Gaza. In the Syrian civil war, rection of politics in the Arab world, in- The initiative called for the recognition Qatar is supporting dictator Assad and cluding its position on Israel and West- of Israel in return for the Israeli with- his allies. ern states. In terms of strategies for the drawal to the 1967 Armistice Lines, as Saudi Arabia, Egypt, and the Gulf States future, the confl ict is also an exception- well as the creation of an independent have now lost patience and are no longer ally important one for the NATO mem- and sovereign Palestinian state with East prepared to tolerate Doha’s dangerous vecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/deed.en ber states, particularly the United States Jerusalem as its capital. Ultimately, this policy of appeasement. Saudi Arabia’s and also Israel. Western democracies initiative foundered on the question of newly proclaimed Crown Prince, and De- ps://crea would be well advised to realize that Palestinian refugees. fense Minister, Mohammed bin Salman, the confl ict with Qatar is not simply a son of King Salman, is waging an ener- diplomatic skirmish, but a dispute over Policy of rapprochement getic policy of stability – aiming to quell the leadership and position of the Arab belligerent Iran, de-escalate the Israel- world and the events taking place in the After the defeat of Iraq and the de- Palestine confl ict, and support Egypt whole of the Middle East. struction of Saddam Hussein’s dictator- in its independent development. This In the early 1980s, in the wake of the ship, Iran sought an expansionist role policy will require good relations with war between Saddam Hussein's aggres- in the Gulf region. The Iranian govern- Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman the United States, Germany, and other on-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported (CC BY-SA 3.0) h (CC BY-SA 3.0 Unported on-ShareAlike sive Ba’ath regime in Iraq and the equally ment under the mullahs obtained de- western countries, and a credible but ribu aggressive Shiite revolution of Ayatollah cisive infl uence over Iraq, which for a to call for the destruction of Israel. Iran not expansive defense policy. Riyadh’s Khomeini's Iran, the Sunni states, led time remained under US occupation. At also lent support to the Houthi rebels in clear political line is being thwarted by by Egypt and Saudi Arabia, came to re- the same time, Tehran began providing Yemen. All of this made Iran a thorn in Doha’s policy of oscillation. Doha would ce / Wikimedia A alize that policies of belligerence posed weapons and fi nancial support to the the side of Saudi Arabia. be well advised to take Riyadh seriously ffi a risk to the entire Arab world. The re- Shiite Hezbollah militia in Lebanon. Fi- The wealthy oil-and-gas emirate of and to shift toward Saudi Arabia’s policy gion’s oil and gas wealth was being used nally, Iran established itself as the key Qatar, which is situated on the eastern of rapprochement. The western democ- to fund destructive confl icts rather than source of support for the embattled Syri- fl ank of Saudi Arabia, pursued a delib- racies should attempt to convince Doha to promote development. These confl icts an dictator Bashar al-Assad. At the same erate Schaukelpolitik or policy of oscil- to join forces with Riyadh’s policies of posed a threat to the fragile balance of time, Iran systematically pursued its nu- lation. The Qataris hoped to ingratiate stability, which off er the only reasonable

the entire region. clear weapons program and continued themselves with all sides, including the course action in the region. ■ O Mohammed Bin Salman al-Saud’s JULY 2017 | JEWISH VOICE FROM GERMANY INTERVIEW | 3

MEIR SHALEV Stories of Love and Imagination Israeli writer does not want to improve the world – just tell good tales

ou are an expert in mat- ferences in politics only started mission. My book Shtaim Dubim/ ters of love. Is the Ger- after the Six Day War. Before, Two She Bears was criticized by man-Israeli relationship the whole idea of left and right some as being immoral. There is a love aff air? was theoretical … a murderer in the book who goes YI have many readers in Germa- unpunished, moreover, the man ny and I feel great sympathy for What drives you to write? who takes revenge is mentally them. I fi rst travelled to Germany I started writing late. My fi rst healed by killing other people. I after my fi rst novel Roman Russi novel was published when I was don’t think literature or any art was translated [1993, in English 40. Before, I had written two chil- should be moralistic or anti-mor- The Blue Mountain]. It was not drens’ books. I had started mak- alistic – it can present a moralis- an easy visit. I do not come from ing up stories for my two kids tic situation and ask the reader a family of Holocaust survivors, and one evening, my wife heard to think about it. When I wrote most of my family came to Pal- me telling them a story and she the book, I was thinking what I estine during the Second Aliyah said: It’s a good story, why don’t would have done if I were in the [before WWI]. I remember peo- you write it down. Then I wrote shoes of my characters. Would I ple asking me at readings how I a collection of essays about the take revenge like that? Honestly, felt having my books translated Bible – very political and liter- I don’t see myself murdering the into German. I said then and I say ary and not religious at all. I was lover of my wife … now: This is my way to tell the working for Israeli TV, had my German people that I am alive. own talk show. I was quite suc- … but you invented the story – And that I am doing what Jew- cessful but I felt more and more so it is in you – ish people have done throughout disappointed in what I was do- It is in me as a writer, not in their history – I tell stories … ing. I knew I could teach, but I me as a person. But the thing that is in me as a person is the blood revenge which is in the book when Eitan kills the crimi- nals who killed Zeev, the grand- father. This Biblical nekamat dam, killing someone who killed a member of your family, is in “I don’t think literature or me, though I would not do it because I am afraid of the law … any art should be moralistic … not like the good Christian who turns the other cheek … No. In my book about my garden I tell of the war I waged against the mole eating my Israel is full of stories … in a bus did not have enough patience to plants – I hate moles, I am not a or a cab, the driver will tell you become a good teacher. And as pacifi st, I will not turn my other the story that his family came for science, it is rather diffi cult cheek to this mole … from Baghdad … but that a grand- to start a scientifi c career at the ply, the narrator in the book love itself. I am not only in love mother came from Vitebsk … Your age of 40 … So I decided to take a is a naive boy who believes with a woman, but with love it- Any plans for a new book? father was also a writer... year off and try to write a novel. the stories told to him by his self. That can make life diffi cult Currently, I am writing a nov- My father was a well-known This is when I composed Roman grandparents, by his uncles – sometimes … el, again a love story. Part of it poet, very popular in the 1950s Russi which is based on some of as I did. All my mother’s fami- will be set in Europe … and 1960s. He wrote three nov- my family's stories and the at- ly were great storytellers. They Is one motive for writing books els, two are forgotten. But one, mosphere in my family. I found told beautiful stories about the need to feel loved by your … perhaps in Germany … The Gabriel Tirosh Aff air of 1964, out: I can write and, I can write their donkey which could fl y readers? Maybe. I don’t know yet. It is is still being printed and sold. It a book. It was a big surprise. I al- and about a man who was rid- This is a completely diff erent about a man who is following his is a very political book. My father ways knew I could put words one ing rabbits at night. thing. This is not the kind of love. Most of it will take place in was a strong right-winger. He next to another and one sentence love I am writing about. Ev- Jerusalem and the Galilee, and would fi ght for human rights for next to another but I found it You are a keen observer of na- erybody knows what love is. part of it in Europe. Some of everybody but, long before 1967, quite diffi cult to create a structure – in Fontanelle, the twins It may be diffi cult to put into my book Esav takes place in the he preached we have to liberate ture which a novel also needs. look at each other with the mis- words but we know what love United States... Usually, writers the territories. Take Jerusalem, With a book, you have to be an chievous grin of cuckoos’ chicks is when we have it and we don’t tell you such things, but take the cave of the Patriarchs, engineer, not only an architect … who have been placed in the know what it is when we don’t Esav is my favorite amongst my he said, even though he was a wrong nest … have it. When God tells Abra- novels. I simply love Esav more secular person. My mother, on Your characters often have spe- I love nature and use it a lot in ham to take his son, He says: than the others. ■ the other hand, came from a cial gifts and talents, they can my books, both as a stage and Ahavta – in the past tense “the socialist family. My parents’ see more, have a better sense of also as a metaphor. I am, by the one you loved.” This is the fi rst Meir Shalev talked to JVG editors marriage was a big thing in Is- smell, can anticipate events … a way, the only author in Israel time the word love appears in Elisabeth Neu and rael when it happened: She was supernatural touch? and perhaps in the world who the Bible – it is not the love be- Rafael Seligmann in Berlin from the moshav, he was from Some say Roman Russi is received a prize from the Israeli tween a man and a woman but the city, she was from the left, he magic realism – a terminology I Entomological Society for de- the love of a father for hisis son. was from the right. But our dif- do not accept at all. Quite sim- scribing insects in Roman Russi I think it is in the past tensense bebe-- … And the Department of Zool- cause God wanted to tell AbraAbra-- ogy at Tel Aviv University gave ham: the feeling you haveve for me a literary prize for describing this boy, this feeling you know animals. Nature is always pres- from the past, the feelingng you ent in my novels, but in my new had and you have for thisis boy book, Ginat ha-bar, The Wild from now on, is called love.ve. It is Garden, it is the main character, the fi rst time the word iss used the real hero. in Hebrew.

The role of love? In your books, Can writers improve love is not always connected to the world? eroticism … It is not my objective, Yes. I write about erotic love, and I don’t want to take but in my private life as well as on this role. I do not feel

JVG (3) JVG in my books I am in love with I have a social or moral 4 | POLITICS JEWISH VOICE FROM GERMANY | JULY 2017

By Siegfried Guterman

es Français, ils sont des raleurs,” says Cath- erine Tombois, who is a dedicated follower of LFrance’s Parti Socialiste. But this time she cast her vote for Emmanuel Macron in order to block the rise of the far-right. “Les Français, ils sont des voleurs,” says Pierre Lambert about the country’s political class; he cast a Carte Blanche – an invalid vote. The political mood in France after the elections of May and June 2017 seems lodged somewhere between complainers (raleurs) and thieves (voleurs). And then of course there are the con men of the right and left – Marine Le Pen and Jean-Luc Mélenchon – who want the French to believe that they will restore France to the days of the Grande Nation with their policies of isolation- ism and social benevolence, a return to the nation-state, retirement at age 60 and a uni- La vie en rose …

versal basic income. In the fi rst Arnaud 25 / Wikimedia Public Domain electoral round – for both the presidency and the legislature – they managed to win nearly half FRANCE AFTER THE ELECTIONS of the French vote. France is in the midst of major confl ict, both with itself and with Germany. For Macron and An Attempt at Bridging the Gaps many French, Germany is a blueprint to French recovery. For the extreme left and the The French in search of a lost nation extreme right, by contrast, Ger- many is once again the traditional arch-enemy that is push- against populist Le Pen. With- have only a minor voice in the by the parliament) to modern- ly superior to that of Germany. ing their country up against the out Macron, France would have National Assembly. ize French labor law. Macron’s Above all, France is a democratic wall, both economically and drifted to the far right. Macron has succeeded in bridg- aim is to implement reforms as country, a country in which the politically. Le Pen’s argument In the parliamentary elec- ing the ideological gap between quickly as possible. Ordonnanc- rule of law, the desire for shared that France would one way or tion, Emmanuel Macron and left and right in France. During his es permit the government to act values, and the signifi cance of its another be ruled by a wom- his REM movement won some fi rst weeks in offi ce, the new presi- as lawmakers for a limited period present and future role within an – either by her or by Ma- 350 seats, an impressive suc- dent already succeeded in restor- of time, thus blurring the distinc- Europe are matters of fundamen- dame Merkel – has taken root cess. In France’s fi rst-past-the- ing some confi dence to France. tion between the executive and tal national importance. The new in the minds of many French post system, some 30 percent of Macron’s interactions with Presi- legislative branch. It is an instru- government would be well ad- citizens. And Jean-Luc Mélen- the votes during the fi rst round dents Trump and Putin were self- ment that is anchored in Article vised to encourage all its citizens chon has named his party “La translated into an absolute ma- assured and full of élan. This, too, 38 of the French constitution, and to remember the positive sides of France insoumise” (France un- jority in the second. Unlike his won him admiration at home. has been repeatedly employed by the Grande Nation. ■ bowed); he wants a France that predecessor François Hollande, Macron’s election has laid the both the left and the right. opposes the German version of who was forced to join a coali- groundwork for political renew- However, the use of ordon-

neoliberal capitalism. tion in the National Assembly, al in France. He has set himself nances is not a means by which ISSN 2193-4800 ZKZ 24792 PvSt Macron will be able to rely on his fi ve ambitious challenges. First, the nation can be reunifi ed. The Dismaying comparison own movement. After his presi- he aims to reunify the divided divisions that must be bridged JEWISH VOICE FROM GERMANY dential victory, Macron drew on nation. This could take place are deep and multi-layered. They In cooperation with the German daily For the French, the compari- the camp of the Republicans to through economic and political involve the relationship between DIE WELT son with Germany is a dismay- reappoint Édouard Philippe as success; the long-overdue re- rich and poor and the fears of the ing one: everything seems to be his prime minister. Economics structuring of the French econ- middle class that they are also P, ..... better in Germany. Germany’s Minister Bruno Le Maire and omy represents both the greatest headed for decline. The divi- Dr. Rafael Seligmann Finance Minister Wolfgang Budget Minister Gérald Darma- opportunity and the greatest risk sions also encompass the social D Lukas Kircher Schäuble – proponent of the nin are also from the conserva- for Macron’s rule. The question isolation of the French elite, as E--C balanced budget and of auster- tive right. The Gaullist move- of security also plays a very im- well as the problems of nepotism Hartmut Bomhoff , Dr. Elisabeth Neu ity policies – and the invulnera- ment subsequently removed portant role in French politics. and bureaucracy. France will al- M E ble Angela Merkel, are a team of the two ministers from their Among the fi rst decisions of so need to address the integra- Paul Siebel

which France can only dream. party. But even this maneuver the government are measures tion of immigrants from North L Germany’s success has helped did not give the Republicans a to make the political class re- Africa, who all speak French Michal Blum further erode the French politi- legislative majority. The Repub- spectable again; the possibility but still do not identify with E S cal landscape. One result is the licans do not possess a platform for members of parliament to the country. The fears of French Sabine Dultz, Siegfried Guterman, Dr. Tong-Jin Smith, decline of France’s traditional that distinguishes them from employ family members will be Jews also play a role – France Dr. Susanne Mauss (†2014) mass parties. In the second Macron’s policy aims. And the a thing of the past. And ﬁ nally, is home to the second-largest A round of the presidential elec- Parti Socialiste as well as the left Macron will have to play a de- Jewish community in the world Michael S. Cullen, Dr. Roland Tichy vecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.5/deed.en tion, newcomer Macron stood radicals and right radicals will Ɵ cisive role in European reform. outside Israel. Fearing Islamist T anti-Semitism, some 30 percent Patricia Szobar ps://crea Ʃ Nepotism and bureaucracy of French Jews cast their vote for P Le Pen’s National Front. Another Frankfurter Societäts-Druckerei Macron hopes to demonstrate issue on the table is the regional Bartash Printing strength by basing important de- reorganization of France, which A S cisions on the system of ordon- includes healing the division be- [email protected] nances. By this fall at the very lat- tween urban and rural areas. C on-ShareAlike 2.5 Generic (CC BY-SA 2.5) h 2.5 Generic (CC BY-SA on-ShareAlike

Ɵ SVoice from Germany GmbH est, the French president and his But even with all the diﬃ culties ribu Postfach 311310 Ʃ newly elected government plan that lie ahead, France remains D-10643 Berlin to employ ordonnances (statu- one of the world’s wealthiest in- Phone: 0049 (0) 30-857 26 888 / Wikimedia A tory instruments issued by the dustrial nations and possesses an [email protected] … and in the Banlieues www.jewish-voice-from-germany.de

Clicsouris Council of Ministers rather than infrastructure that is signiﬁ cant-

6 | ECONOMY JEWISH VOICE FROM GERMANY | JULY 2017

ALLEZ LA FRANCE Reforms Urgently Needed Implementing Macron’s election manifesto would cost €100 billion vecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/ Ɵ ps://crea Ʃ on-ShareAlike 2.0 Generic (CC BY-SA 2.0) h 2.0 Generic (CC BY-SA on-ShareAlike Ɵ ribu Ʃ Mario Sánchez Prada / Flickr 4116623894_2cbec795dd_o A Prada Mario Sánchez Oh là là: French world market leaders make for a quarter of global sales of luxury goods

By Siegfried Guterman These budget woes will further limit Ma- ter the greatest resistance. The changes state has an important role to play in cron’s hand. France’s public debt is at 96 are largely aimed at providing employ- determining the conditions of life in conomic success will largely percent of GDP and its budget defi cit is ers with greater fl exibility. Sector-wide France; while this role is founded on determine whether the French slightly over three percent of GDP. wage agreements, negotiated with the centralized control, the regions and president will be standing for But the reforms initiated under Fran- trade union, may in future be replaced departments are also accorded clearly election again in fi ve years’ time. çois Hollande are beginning to show an by internal company negotiations on defi ned responsibilities. EEmmanuel Macron has ushered in an era eff ect. The unemployment rate is slowly wages and work conditions. The presi- EU integration off ers new opportuni- of political renewal in France. He repre- declining; France is projected to have a dent hopes that his proposed measures ties for responsible economic policies, sents a young generation that feels as lit- growth rate of 1.4 percent and 1.7 percent will unshackle the French entrepreneur- but it also places limits. Many hope that tle bound to old concepts such as “plani- for 2017 and 2018 respectively, even un- ial spirit and economic vigor. Macron will also help stabilize the EU. fi cation” (a state-planned economy) as to der a “no policy change” scenario. But Macron’s core program of reforms is And Macron himself has promised to neoliberal and post-capitalist strategies this scenario is highly unlikely. Macron rounded out by a new model of growth. help create a Europe that will allow em- of an unbridled market economy. Ma- is planning to quickly launch his planned cron’s overwhelming success in the pres- reforms and is counting on the momen- idential election and in the legislative tum that transformation could bring to elections held in mid-June has granted a country that has largely been paralyzed him an economic and political latitude for years. that is far greater than that enjoyed by his Striving to unshackle the French predecessors Nicolas Sarkozy and Fran- Threefold resistance “ çois Hollande. Macron’s election mani- entrepreneurial spirit and economic vigor festo, called “Contrat avec la Nation,” is a Macron can anticipate resistance in collection of proposals for change and an three areas: in fi nancial reform, pension appeal to the capabilities of the French reform, and in amendments to labor law. nation. But the youngng president does not His tax policy envisions a €500 net tax re- His call for €€50 billion of public invest- ployment and the economy to thrive. have unlimited scopeope to shashapepe his eco- duction for taxpayers who earn €2,200 a mmentent gives priority to environmental His European economic agenda rests nomic and politicall agenda. For one, the mmonth.onth. This is to be achieved by, among pprotectionrotection mmeasures. Private investment on three proposals: he has called for a weakness of the parliamentaryarliamentary opposi- other things, exempting 80 percent of iiss to be spuspurredr by lowering the corpo- Eurozone fi nance minister and a com- tion could give risese to an extra-parlia- lower-income taxpayers from the “taxe“taxe rrateate tax rate. mon budget, and he wants to create a mentary oppositionn tthathat will be carried d’habitation” or local property tax. How-How- IImplementingm his election Eurozone parliament with authority out on the streets ooff PParisaris and Lyon, and manifestoma would cost up to €100 to make economic and political deci- in the large departments,tmments, which are billion.bil Macron plans to save sions. Taken together, these proposals mostly rural in character.aracter. €€6060 billion through cuts to gov- endorse the concept of a “multi-speed” For another, the eernmentrnm spending. Every minis- Europe, a concept that Germany is likely vecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/ economic poli- trtryy will be asked to present de- to welcome. At the same time, however, Ɵ cies of EU govern- tailedta plans for potential cuts, Macron’s ideas also do not accord com- ps://crea ments remain subjectect to the withw the aim of reducing the pletely with the “doctrine of the bal- Ʃ EU regulatory framework.meework. The MaasMaas-- raratio of government spending anced budget.” Instead of instinctively tricht rules on publiclic debt and the euro toto GGDP to 53 percent. The num- rejecting further integration of the Euro- system pose a signinifi cant obstaclebl to a Sought a er but problema c: arms exports berbf of state employees is to be reduced zone, Berlin would be well advised to de- president who is bentent on renewal,renewal, both bbyy 500,000500,000 oover coming years, and posi- liberate these proposals with Macron on 2.0) h on 2.0 Generic (CC BY in terms of policy and of personnel. ever, this tax is an important source of tions that become vacant will not be fi lled. their own merits. The Eurozone needs its Ɵ ribu Macron has assumed offi ce at a time funding for cities and local communities, If we reduce Macron’s economic policy own federal structure with a parliament, Ʃ when France is facing serious econom- so local mayors and municipal leaders to the core ideas of shrinking the state, governing body, and its own fi nances in ic diffi culties. In recent years, France’s can be expected to oppose this plan. lowering taxes, and easing restrictions order to be able to act with credibility, economy has lagged behind that of the Pension reform will be another mam- on redundancies, they are reminiscent speed, and purpose. The prospect of a rest of Europe. France’s unemployment moth task. For the time being, Macron in their neoliberal impact to Germany’s “transfer union” can only be held in rate is nearly ten percent. At almost 25 does not plan to change the retirement Agenda 2010. But he remains commit- check if the redistributions associated percent, youth unemployment is also far age of 62 years. But the various calculated to much of the French social wel- with Macron’s proposals are carried out too high. France’s state ratio – meaning tion methods for pensions are to be grad- fare state, including the 35-hour week, according to clear rules, and accord- the ratio of government expenditures to ually shifted to a universal point system, early retirement age, a high minimum ing to the principle of responsibility. GDP – is about 56 percent. In Germany, based on the Swedish model. The pro- wage, and so forth. His electoral agen- The French ideal of “egalité” must also

by contrast, the state ratio is 44 percent. posed reforms to labor law will encoun- da is guided by the conviction that the apply to the Eurozone. ■ / Flickr 8661171028_d52e591301_o A der Schaaf van Gerard READY FOR NEW MARKETS Discover opportunities and grow your business in Germany

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JEWISH VOICE FROM GERMANY

Special Report on Thuringia 2017 Living Traditions and Lasting Visions The green heart of Germany invites you to explore its cultural treasures Neumann, Papenfuss / Atelier für Gestaltung / Atelier Neumann, Papenfuss Barbara / TSK ung Weimar, Ō

Ɵ , Samuel Zuder / Thüringer Tourismus GmbH, Stefan Kranz , Alexander Burzik / Klassik S , Alexander Kranz Stefan GmbH, Tourismus Samuel Zuder / Thüringer , Ō Gesellscha u. Digitale Ō Wissenscha Ō Thüringer Ministerium f. Wirtscha f. Ministerium Thüringer

furt Treasure, which dates back port of the state of Thuringia, – deserves its place at the top CONTENTS to the 13th and 14th centuries. the state capital of Erfurt is of the list of everyone inter- The Erfurt Treasure comprises applying for recognition as a ested in European culture and more than 4,000 items, includ- UNESCO World Heritage site. history. This year marks the ing silver coins, tableware and These eff orts are accompanied 500th anniversary of the Refor- jewelry. The most important by many other activities that mation and the year in which object is a Jewish wedding ring make Thuringia one of the most Martin Luther made his 95 the- from the early 14th century; important and exciting destina- ses known in Wittenberg. 2019 Brotherhood in 2015, a replica was given to tions for everyone interested in will mark the 100th birthday of Erfurt’s Achava Festival the Beit Hatfutsot Museum in Jewish culture and history. For the Bauhaus movement, which PAGE IV Tel Aviv. The Erfurt Treasure example, Weimar’s University was founded in Weimar and was discovered in 1998 dur- of Music has a chair dedicated went on to become what is ar- ing archaeological excavations to the history of Jewish music, guably the most infl uential art and has since been displayed while a research center at the and design school in the world. in New York, Paris, London University of Erfurt is dedicated This, too, will be celebrated in among other locations. In 2009, to the study of religious practic- Thuringia in grand style. it was installed in a permanent es and rituals. On the cultural From the Bauhaus movement, display in the Old Synagogue. side, the spectrum ranges from to the Reformation and Jew- Bauhaush ish culture, Thuringia off ers a Cradle of modernity Ladies and Gentlemen, wealth of history and culture PAGE VI Dear Readers, to explore. We would like to extend our warmest invitation Thuringia has a rich Jew- to visit Thuringia and enjoy our ish heritage whose origins date “Thuringia is brimming with famous hospitality. There is no back to the 11th century. Particu- other place in Germany or Eu- larly in Erfurt’s historic district, discoveries – come take a look rope where you will be able to much of which remains intact, fi nd this unique combination of Prime Minister Ramelow many architectural and cul- nature and culture, relaxation Embracing responsibility tural traces bear witness to the Taken together, these wit- the Achava Festival in Erfurt to and excitement, as you will here. city’s fi rst Jewish community, nesses off er a unique glimpse the annual Days of Jewish-Israe- Thuringia is brimming with dis- PAGE VIII which fl ourished there until the into Jewish daily life and com- li Culture, in which 17 cities in coveries – come take a look at 14th century. munal existence as well as the Thuringia will be participating www.visit-thuringia.com These include the Old Syna- coexistence of Jewish and Chris- this year. gogue – one of the oldest, larg- tian life in medieval European But even beyond its impor- est and best-preserved medi- towns – with a wealth of detail tant Jewish heritage, Thuringia With warmest regards, eval synagogues, which also and an intensity that is virtually – the birthplace of the Refor- Wolfgang Tiefensee has a mikveh – as well as a large unmatched elsewhere. In Erfurt mation and of the Bauhaus Treasure number of material relics such we can retrace the blossoming movement, the home of Wei- Thuringian Minister for Medieval findingsgs as gravestones, manuscripts, of Central European Jewish cul- mar Classicism and the birth- Economic Aff airs, Science PAGE VIII and of course the unique Er- ture. That is why with the sup- place of Johann Sebastian Bach and Digital Society II | LEGACY SUPPLEMENT | 2017

THEN AND NOW Traces of Jewish Life in Thuringia Embracing a rich tradition immigrants today secure the community’s future

By Hartmut Bomhoff founded in 1856 by Löb and Moses Sim- son in the city of Suhl. In the beginning, bout 600 years ago, Hillel of a steel hammer formed the basis of the Erfurt, a Talmudic authority, company which would become known left for Palestine to spend the as a manufacturer of weapons and ve- remainder of his life in the hicles – mainly for the Prussian Army. HolyA Land, thus fulfi lling a vow he had From 1896 onwards, Simson expanded made. When he had reached Vienna, its product line into the civilian sector he was seized by a longing to return to and built its fi rst bicycles. Simson soon Thuringia because he was convinced that became one of the largest bicycle manu- the Talmudical school of Erfurt would facturers in Germany. After World War suff er through his absence. He then I and the Treaty of Versailles, the factory turned to the rabbis of Vienna who ab- was one of the few armaments plants in solved him on the grounds that he had a Germany permitted to continue opera- greater task to perform in spreading To- tion. With over 4,000 workers, Simson rah to the Jews of Erfurt. produced small arms, automobiles – in- Jewish merchants have been recorded cluding the Simson Supra racing car – in this part of Central Germany as ear- and other metal goods. In 1935, the fac- ly as the 10th century. The presence of tory was “Aryanized” in a particularly Jews in Erfurt has also been document- aggressive and public way. The owners ed during the 12th century. During the were arrested and fi rst escaped to Swit- Middle Ages, Thuringia produced many zerland and later to the United States. scholars who contributed signifi cantly Today, Simson vehicles are collector’s to Jewish learning. The majority of Jews items, but hardly anybody knows about lived in free cities, which did not recog- the company's Jewish past. nize the authority of the landgrave. After Another example is the success story the Black Death pogrom, Erfurt became of Hermann Tietz, a merchant in Gera, again the largest Jewish community at a textile center in Thuringia. A Jewish that time in Germany. At the end of the community was formally founded in 14th century, Erfurt’s Jewry called four or 1885, and in 1895, there were 90 Jews in fi ve synagogues their own, as well as four Gera engaged mostly in commerce. Her- ritual slaughterhouses. However, in 1458, mann Tietz and his nephew Oskar Ti- they were expelled from Erfurt, and in etz, who came to Gera in 1882, were the 1536, landgrave John Frederick the Brave, founders of Hertie, a department store a fervent supporter of the Reformation, chain with stores all over Germany. ordered the total expulsion of Jews. An act which was enforced in 1559. Towards destruction

The landgraviate of Thuringia subse- für Gestaltung / Atelier Papenfuss quently experienced a period of disin- The Old Synagogue of Erfurt In Erfurt, Jewish entrepreneurs be- tegration and was divided into a large longed to the city’s establishment, number of minor duchies and princi- and Walldorf, the Jews are very fervent the development of Mühlhausen as they among them shoe manufacturer Alfred palities. While prohibited from living in their religious devotions!” were one of the largest employers in town. Hess, who made many generous dona- in cities, as of the latter half of the 17th It was not until the fi rst decades of the Today, the Jewish community of Erfurt is tions of Expressionist paintings to the century, Jews were allowed to settle on 19th century, that Jews in the four duch- responsible for the two restored historic Angermuseum, fi nancier Wilhelm Moos the estates of the nobility, with a few ies received charters, with the communi- synagogues but doesn’t own the Aschen- as well as horticulturalist Ernst Benary. rich court Jews granted protection by ty of Saxe-Meiningen becoming the larg- hausen synagogue. The fi rst two are used “We bring beauty to the world” was the est one. In the early 1800s, Jews occasionally for worship, a concert, or slogan of the seed and breeding compa- were permittted to live in Erfurt other events, but are mostly maintained ny, founded in 1843 by Benary in Erfurt. again, which then had become and kept open to the public by volunteers. It quickly became a household name in Prussian. A new synagogue was 150 years ago, in December 1867, the horticulture and counted Gregor Mendel built in 1840, and eventually a “Israelite Community of Eisenach” was among its prominent customers. Under larger one was built to replace it. The opulent domed structure of this Great Synagogue with seating for 500 stood until 1938, when it was destroyed in the Kristallnacht pogrom on Neither Hitler nor Stalin should November 9. “ During the 19th century, nu- have the last word. That s why merous new synagogues and ’ Jewish schools were built in small towns and villages, for I’m committed to help build a example in 1842 in Mühlhau- sen, followed by Aschenhausen dynamic Jewish life in 1843, and Berkach in 1854. In 1938, the latter, together with

Reinhard Schramm / Thüringer Tourismus GmbH Tourismus / Thüringer Schramm Reinhard the neighboring school building, founded – which by 1904 reached a Nazi rule, many members of the Benary Community president Reinhard Schramm was spared from arson by inter- membership of 422. By 1869 the last re- family who had converted to Christian- vention through local residents. strictions were cleared and Jews moved ity, signed up for the German army to the various princes. In consequence, In the following year, the buildings were back into the cities of Thuringia, gain- avoid anti-Semitic persecution. Today, Jewish life in the “green heart of Germa- sold to the municipality. Renovated in the ing their much wanted and scarcely Benary is an independent family busi- ny” became more rural, with peddling 1990s, the synagogue of the small city of contested recognition and equality. ness in its sixth generation and operates and cattle trade as the main source Mühlhausen is now a listed monument However, a signifi cant decline in the three breeding facilities in the United of income. and serves as a cultural center. Jewish population was caused by anti- States, the Netherlands, and Germany. In 1783, German national poet Fried- Semitism in the countryside which en- Their core business is the development rich Schiller gave an account of Jewish Rapid growth couraged Jewish emigration. and distribution of fl ower varieties for life in the countryside. Staying at the In the second half of the 19th century, the professional bedding plant market. Bauerbach estate near Meiningen, he Another Jewish site nearby is the man- Thuringia’s economy saw a period of After World War I, the many principal- remarked, “I’m just annoyed that so ma- sion of the Oppé brothers on Lindenbühl, rapid growth. An example for innovative ities were amalgamated into one state, ny Christians make so little out of their a street near the center of town. These Jewish entrepreneurship is the story of Thuringia, with a Jewish population of religion, while, as I see in Bauerbach industrialists had a decisive infl uence on the Simson brothers. Simson & Co. was about 3,600. On June 23, 1930, the Jew- 2017 | SUPPLEMENT LEGACY | III

Non-Jewish pupils get immersed in the history of Erfurt’s Old Synagogue Stefan Kranz Stefan

ish Telegraphic Agency reported: “Jew- ish visitors to the summer resorts of Thuringia are urged to disregard the warnings and threats of the anti-Semit- Our congregation is a community of a shared destiny ic National Socialists against coming to “ Thuringia this summer in a published appeal by the Thuringian Tourists’ Union, with a growing sense of religiosity, and we are in the hotel proprietors, and owners of health resorts. A member of the anti-Semitic process of creating a spiritual home for both the non- National Socialist party, Fritz Sauckel, recently declared in the Thuringian par- Orthodox majority and the Orthodox minority liament that the Jews are not wanted at Thuringia’s summer resorts. The appeal points out that Jews are never molested victims. Former Nazis, unless they were gious service, youth, and social work) is In March 1947, the city council of Er- in Thuringia.” Nevertheless, Thuringia particularly prominent, have the same satisfactory. In normal times, Erfurt had furt granted a request for the restitution fell under Nazi rule even before Hit- opportunities as the Jews whom they 600 members; of these, only six are left. of the site on which the Great Syna- ler’s appointment as chancellor, with wanted to exterminate. The members of All the others have come, nearly with- gogue had stood until 1938. The com- stridently anti-modernist policies re- the Jewish congregations feel themselves out exception, from Breslau, from where munity immediately began planning ceiving considerable public support. In united by their common fate, though they had been evacuated. It is due to the the construction of a new synagogue, 1933, when Adolf Hitler assumed power, there are, of course, also some amongst experience of the former large Breslau the only one to be built in the German Thuringia was home to 4,500 Jews in 37 them who, in the past, were less keen to Community that the Erfurt congrega- Democratic Republic (GDR). However, communities. About 650 Jewish family be considered as Jews. The internal orga- tion could be reorganized. The old tra- shortly after the inauguration of the businesses fell victim to “Aryanization”. nization of the Erfurt Community (reli- dition and culture is being kept alive in New Synagogue in 1952, a decline in As of the summer of 1937, the Buchen-uchen modest religious services without rabbi membership began. In the same year, wald concentration camp near Weimarar or chchazchazzan.” an anti-Semitic show trial against lead- became the epitome of Nazi atrocities,ocities, ing state and party functionaries of Jew- and on May 10, 1942, the fi rst transportnsport TrouTroubleduble new beginnings ish origin took place in Czechoslovakia. with 515 Thuringian Jews departedd frofromm Also, in East Germany, many members the Weimar train station to the BBelzyceelzyce ShShortlyortl after liberation, the Jewish com- of the Jewish community were interro- ghetto near Lublin. During the SShoah,hoah, mmunityunity of Erfurt, a mere handful of 15 gated, detained, or harassed. Jews were the principal Jewish communitiesies ooff people,people re-established itself under the accused of “cosmopolitanism” and de- Thuringia – Altenburg, Aschenhau-nhau- leleadershipader of Max Cars, a survivor of the famed as “agents of the West,” “Zion- sen, Arnstadt, Eisenach, Gotha, and TheresienstadtThher ghetto. Later in 1945, ists” and “traitors” intent on undermin- Meiningen – as well as many rural Jew-Jew- betweenbetw 400 and 1,000 German Jews ing the socialist state. ish settlements were annihilated. – theth data vary − transferred there In 1953, around two thirds of all Jews fromfrom Breslau (meanwhile the Polish living in the GDR fl ed, many of them to A Letter from Thuringia, July 1948 citycity of Wroclaw). By August 1949, the West Berlin. The Jewish community in Er- numbernum of affi liated Jews in Thuringia furt survived these troubled times, but the In July 1948, the London-based AsAs-- hadhad shrunk to 130, signifying that on- communities in Eisenach, Gera, and Müh- sociation of Jewish Refugees (AJR)AJR) lyly a few of the survivors identifi ed as lhausen vanished. With the dissolution of published a sobering report on the rereligious,elig or wanted to stay for good. East Germany in 1990, only 26 Jews were situation of their brethren in the SoSo-- OOnene of them was Wolfgang M. Nos- registered with the Jewish community in viet occupied zone: “Altogether therehere ssen,en, who was born in Breslau in 1931. Erfurt. Since 1990, the Erfurt community are 350 Jews living in Thuringia. Com-om- HHowever,ow after the founding of the has had an infl ux of new members, pri- munities exist in Erfurt, Eisenach,ach, JeJewishewi state, he left Erfurt for Israel. marily immigrants from the FSU. In April Jena and Gera. The ‘Landesverbandband IInn 11977, unforeseen circumstances 2013, the ordination of two rabbis and the Jüdischer Gemeinden in Erfurt’ is the lleded him to West Germany, where he investiture of two cantors by the Abra- E. Driesel successor organization of the ddis-is- ssomehowom settled. In November 1989, ham Geiger College marked a milestone solved former communities in thehe tthehe fall of the Berlin Wall opened new in the Jewish revival in Thuringia. Today, district. Most of the employable Jewsws oopportunitiesp for him. After a short the Jewish Community numbers around have found work, by which, underer visitvi to Erfurt, he decided to stay, 800 members of whom about 500 live in prevailing circumstances, they justst andan in 1995, Mr. Nossen was elected the capital. Professor Reinhard Schramm, earn their living. There are, how-w- presidentp of the Jewish Community president of the Jüdische Landesgemeinde ever, many old, sick, and widowedd ofo Thuringia – an offi ce he would since 2012, puts it bluntly: “There would persons, and the communities aree holdh for seventeen years and during be no Jewish community here without the overaged. Religious service and tu-u- whichw he witnessed the consolida- Jewish immigrants from the Soviet Union. ition is only provided for in Erfurturt tiontio of Jewish life. However, it was a I hope that the human and fi nancial re- (160 Jews). It is especially depressingssing longlon and bumpy road to accomplish, sources will be made available to build a that the Jews there are treated likeike thehe andand forf many years, the prospects re- children’s and youth center with an inte- defeated majority and not as liberated Gravestone of David, the son of Tsadok (1250) mained poor. grated kindergarten.” ■ IV | CULTURE SUPPLEMENT | 2017

ACHAVA FESTIVAL A Vision Come True Erfurt is a hotspot for connecting diverse traditions and people

The fabulous three sisters of A-Wa-Yemen-Tel Aviv performing in Erfurt Stefan Kranz Stefan

JVG each other with respect and than 30 countries. In Erfurt, the town. Klein and his band will of instruments and the fate of attention,” explains artistic day provides both a platform to introduce the audience to Is- their owners. n 2015, the Hebrew word director Jascha Nemtsov. combat indiff erence and preju- rael’s lively jazz scene. As 2017 also marks the 500th achava (“friendship” or The broad spectrum of topics dice as well as lots of fun and anniversary of the beginning of “brotherhood”) became and events is also refl ected both entertainment in a picturesque Examining the Reformation the Reformation in Germany, the name of a new festi- by the festival’s venues and medieval setting. the “Erfurt Colloquies”, three Ival in Erfurt, ACHAVA-Fest- supporters. The crowds gather Indeed, last year’s festival The exhibition “Music. Resis- panel discussions during the spiele Thüringen. The name in churches, synagogues, pub- could already double the num- tance. Extermination” at the festival, will examine and evalu- refl ects the agenda: ACHAVA lic spaces, including a former ber of visitors compared to the Erfurt memorial site Topf & ate the contemporary relevance aims to convey concepts of heating plant, or in the open fi rst ACHAVA Festival in 2015 – Söhne will be dedicated to the of reformer Martin Luther. “Re- understanding, tolerance and air. Among the many festival a challenge this year’s program Theresienstadt musicians who ligious Freedom and the Secular mutual respect to the general supporters are the Thuringian is glad to take on with a wide performed Verdi’s “Requiem” a State”, “Freedom and the Rule public. From August 31 until State government, regional variety of concerts, dance per- number of times in the ghetto. of Law” are topics which will September 10, 2017, the festi- businesses and media, as well formances, panel discussions, The exhibition also traces the certainly draw large audiences. val – in its third year – will not as the Erfurt municipality, the exhibitions, a street festival, fate of Jewish musicians in the “Luckily, people want to make only enrich the cultural land- Israeli Embassy in Berlin, and children’s activities, fi lms, and town of Weimar. The Staats- up their own minds and take scape in Thuringia, but also the Central Council of Jews in religious services. kapelle Weimar and the MDR time to do so,“ says Kranz. set standards for interreligious Germany to name but a few. The name “MoZuluArt” is broadcast choir will dedicate Poet Heinrich Heine once dialogue. “The Jewish symbol Addressing and integrating already intriguing – and the their performance of the “Re- said that the book is the Jews’ of the fi g tree, in the shade of more and more diff erent social festival’s opening concert of quiem” at St. Marien, Erfurt’s “portable homeland”. Israeli which there is room for every- groups, including the Muslim this Austrian-African band is cathedral, to the memory of artist Nechama Levendel off ers bound to be electrifying with the murdered musicians. A a fascinating new interpreta- its synthesis of 18th century Eu- concert and discussion en- tion of this dictum. She col- ropean music and traditional titled “The Violin of Buchen- lects discarded books from dif- rhythms from Zimbabwe. The wald” explores the dramatic ferent civilisations, languages, “Gypsy Soul and Jewish Heart” story of a unique collection and subjects, tears them apart concert will also testify to a People want to make up musical symbiosis of a special “ kind, whilst the Tatar Monks choir from Kazan introduces their own minds and take sacred music of the Christian Orthodox tradition. Jazz con- time to do so noisseurs have the Erfurt festival fi rmly on their agenda already, but this year is special as the First ACHAVA Jazz Award one, is our programmatic ba- community, churches, teach- will be presented. It goes to the sis. As one of the oldest world ers, and organisations from duo “Fractal Limit”. Brazilian religions Judaism has, so to the adult education sector, the singer Tatiana Parra and pia- speak, great experience in an- festival helps foster a sense of nist Vardan Ovsepian from Ar- alyzing man’s weaknesses and cohesion and community be- menia quite simply convinced strengths,” says event organiz- yond religious and political the jury with their music’s er Martin Kranz. In the past, boundaries and lives up to its “magic and depth”. Of course, he has succeeded in bringing name. they will grace the award cer- renowned Israeli musicians emony on September 9 with like Avishai Cohen, Ravid Ka- Insight into Jewish culture a performance – their fi rst in halani, and Idan Raichel to Germany! “New projects like Erfurt to perform at the fes- The main focus was and is to the ACHAVA Jazz Award open tival. However, the ten days provide insight into Jewish and doors for further intercultural program is much more than Israeli culture at large. ACHA- exchange,” says Kranz. Anoth- an opportunity to promote VA Festival takes the opportu- er jazz highlight will take place artistic quality outside off the nity to mark the European Day the following evening when world’s large concert halls. of Jewish Culture, a continent- Omer Klein and his trio will “We are committed to engage wide Jewish culture and educa- perform at the Heizwerk, the

in dialogue and debate, to action festival that encompasses former heating plant and now Beck Lukas cept dissent and to encounter hundreds of events in more one of the hottest venues in Mozart meets Zimbabwe: Austro-African band MoZuluArt 2017 | SUPPLEMENT CULTURE & MEMORY | V

and reassembles them. In this ported the project with great new synthesis she expresses enthusiasm and cooperative- Erfurt Cathedral, one of the fes val’s venues her desire to act as a mediator ness. Reinhard Schramm as between diﬀ erent cultures. The president of the Jewish Com- festival dedicates a special ex- munity of Thuringia has also hibition to Levendel’s very own been with us from the begin- art of the book. ning and every year helps to Martin Kranz knows that the mobilize members and part- festival is at the right place ners. In addition, we have and comes at the right time: programmatic partners such “Thuringia is an excellent basis. Luckily, a number of gems of Jewish cultural history have been preserved here, es-

pecially in Erfurt. Kranz Stefan This is also why the concept of the The festival is complemented ACHAVA Festi- by the Jewish-Israeli Cultural

val contributes to Hadley Sarah Days and the program of the the city’s current Winners of ACHAVA Jazz Award: Fractal Limit The festival helps generate Yiddish Summer Weimar, as application for “ well as our own cultural activi- UNESCO World Heritage sta- as all political foundations in ties. Together with government tus. And, people from all over Germany and, of course, cor- a sense of Jewish normality commitment for preserving Germany come to our festival.” porations and individuals act- Jewish heritage, this generates And Kranz is not the only ing as sponsors.” a sense of Jewish normality in one with this conviction: “Our What does the future hold for we can ensure future ACHAVA enriches everyday life in our Thuringia.” Is there any bet- ﬁ rst and foremost partner was the festival? “Of course I wish festivals will be lively, up-to- Jewish community and in soci- ter way to promote achava – the state of Thuringia, in the ACHAVA Festival mazal tov till date, and interesting. A festival ety at large with Jewish culture friendship and brotherhood? ■ person of Prime Minister Bo- 120 … but I know it’s no good for the people can only be done at its best. We are involved in do Ramelow. He immediately resting on one’s laurels. Thus, with the people.” the preparation and the con- ACHAVA Festival starts on recognized the potential and I am looking forward to lots of Professor Reinhard Schramm duct of Shabbat services and August 31, 2017. current relevance and has sup- constructive feedback so that adds: “The ACHAVA Festival of cultural and political events. www.achava-festspiele.de

MEMORIAL SITE TOPF & SÖHNE Remembrance for the 21st Century Former headquarters of the “builders of the Auschwitz ovens” is now a museum

By Dieter Sattler means of cadaver dispos- and “soiling its own nest.” An argument al.” But the ovens that he to which then-head of the Jewish com- lways glad to serve you…” This would later design for the munity of the state of Thuringia, Wolf- was how the Erfurt business- SS were intended for one gang Nossen, commented: “You should A man Ernst-Wolfgang Topf purpose only: mass dis- have given some thought to the city’s im- concluded a letter to the SS construc- posal of human beings. age 80 years ago!” Today the memorial is tion management at Auschwitz. This Alongside historical welcomed by the city and its citizens, as cynical salutation is now inscribed on documentation, the me- is also evident by its close collaboration the exterior of the former adminis- morial center also fo- with other local institutions. One teacher trative building of Topf & Söhne, the cuses on questions of from Norway commented: “When I go company that built crematoria ov- remembrance work and home tomorrow, I’ll have questions, ques- ens and ventilation systems for Aus- engagement with cur- tions, questions.” The exhibition "Indus- chwitz-Birkenau, Mauthausen, and rent issues. Among its try and Holocaust" is shown at the Aus- other German concentration and notable initiatives was chwitz-Birkenau State Museum until the

death camps. For decades, the histo- / Köln Pichler Architekten Kastner the November 2011 pub- end of October. For American audiences, ry of this factory facility was largely lic commemoration of an English and Spanish language version ignored. After the successor company, a of death. They delivered the crematoria the victims of far-right murders, as well is available. ■ storage and malting equipment manufac- ovens and other technology needed to as several events held in commemoration turer, went bankrupt in 1996, the prem- carry out murder on a mass and effi cient of the genocide in Rwanda. The numer- ises remained unused until 2001, when it scale. Their expertise helped the Nazis ous educational activities of the center JEWISH VOICE FROM GERMANY was occupied by squatters. However, two implement their murderous plans quick- include eyewitness testimony such as the years earlier, a society had been founded ly and effi ciently. And they knew exactly accounts of Hungarian Auschwitz survi- THURINGIA to research the history of J. A. Topf & what they were doing. Company employ- vor Eva Fahidi-Pusztai, discussions about LIVING TRADITIONS LASTING VISIONS Söhne. In 2011, the state of Thuringia took ees spent months on-site, observing and recent developments in right-wing popu- up this initiative, establishing a memorial monitoring the “operational reliability” lism and extremism as well as media re- P, ..... and permanent exhibition in the former of their systems, in the process becoming ports on the topic, and discussions of the Dr. Rafael Seligmann administrative building. The exhibition witnesses to mass murder. nature of complicity and business ethics includes many documents that show how The moral debasement that resulted as a whole. The center also hosts work- E the organization and implementation of from this willing complicity is exemplifi ed shops for refugees living in Thuringia and Hartmut Bomhoff , Dr. Elisabeth Neu, Dr. Tong-Jin Smith state-organized mass murder could only by Karl Prüfer (1891−1952), Topf & Söhne’s for Muslim university students on topics be carried out with the assistance of or- head engineer. In his early career, Prüfer such as human rights and democracy. The dinary Germans. The history of Topf & had worked in the memorial website Michal Blum, Paul Siebel Söhne thus serves as an instructive ex- areas of waste dis- includes a “web dia- P ample for the complicity of the broader posal, cremation of logue” section where Frankfurter Societäts-Druckerei GmbH population. In her book Industrie und Ho- animal corpses, and online visitors can Bartash Printing Inc. locaust, Annegret Schüle, who is also cu- the design and con- post their own con- C rator of the memorial, writes: “With Topf struction of munic- tributions. SVoice from Germany GmbH & Söhne, we encounter the ordinary face ipal crematoria. In In the early years, Postfach 311310 D-10643 Berlin of Auschwitz’s machinery of destruction, 1931, Prüfer would there were some right in the midst of everyday German still write, “crema- who argued that the [email protected] society.” During the Nazi era, the Erfurt tion should not be memorial was harm- www.jewish-voice-from-germany.de engineers served as veritable technicians debased simply to a Dirk Urban ing Erfurt’s image VI | VISIONS SUPPLEMENT | 2017

ARCHITECTURE AND DESIGN The Bauhaus: From Weimar into the World Pioneer of modernity still shapes our daily lives U. Pohlmann U. The Wagenfeld lamp

ed in crafts and drawing, and painting, as well as scientiﬁ cally-theoretically too.” Sculptors, stone masons, smiths, wood cutters, and weavers and many more were to be instructed here. Likewise, composition and drawing, as well as de- signing furniture and everyday objects were to be taught. Theoretical lessons entailed anatomy, history of arts, materials science. But the curriculum also in-

Samuel Zuder / Thüringer Tourismus GmbH Tourismus Samuel Zuder / Thüringer cluded nitty gritty such as “basic knowl- Haus am Horn in Weimar, built for the Bauhaus exhibi on in 1923 edge of bookkeeping, contract closing, professional fees.” By Elisabeth Neu near Hanover. Now, Weimar was call- from the million hands of craftsmen as ing. In early 1919, the local Art School a clear symbol of a new belief to come.” Form follows function he story has a happy end. Al- and the School of Arts and Crafts, both Well, reality was a diff erent thing. though, for a while, it seemed renowned institutions, had merged to 1919 meant hard times. The economy Top priority at the Bauhaus: Versatility! unlikely. In 1919, all eyes were create what would later become known was stalling, provisions were scarce. Love of experimentation! A laboratory on Weimar, the tiny town in the as “the Bauhaus.” Soon students and teachers complained of modernity had sprung up in Weimar. Theart of Thuringia. The German Nation- This clearly called for a manifesto. Its about the lack of materials, freezing cold Henceforth, form had to follow function. al Assembly had withdrawn here from opening sentence was a bombshell: “The working spaces, frugal meals. But Gro- Gone were the fussy interiors of the turn the revolutionary hotbed of the Capi- ultimate goal of all art is the building!” tal, Berlin. It had gathered to draw up Gropius went on to demand: “Architects, a constitution in the “Spirit of Weimar” sculptors, painters – we all must return – home of venerated poets and think- to craftsmanship! For there is no such ers like Goethe, Schiller, Wieland, and thing as ‘art by profession’. There is no Herder. It was a spirit Germans con- essential diff erence between the artist “ Clear lines, geometrical shapes, modern jured up to contrast the monstrosities and the artisan. The artist is an exalted of WWI. The constitution was to be that artisan.” Expressionistically intoxicated, materials were the basis for functional, of a republic, the fi rst on German soil. he continued: “Let us strive for, conceive, Whilst the assembly noodled over details, and create the new building of the fu- simple furniture and everyday objects Walter Gropius, a 36 year old architect, ture that will unite every discipline, ar- signed the contract making him director chitecture and sculpture and painting, of the new Weimar Art School, the State and which will one day rise heavenwards pius was a highly gifted administrator, of the century, the over-ornate facades, Bauhaus. Weimar democracycy was to lastlast fund raiser, and organizerorg – and a tal- and cumbersome architecture. The new a mere 14 years before it waswas strangled ent scout. WWithini a very short man – his creation was also an ambition by Hitler’s Nazis. Its demisee was al- time period,perio he persuaded of the Bauhaus program – demanded so to be the end of the Bauhaus.uhaus. the crèmecrèm de la crème of transparency, fresh air, and sunlight in As a fl agship of modernity this the avant-gardeava to sign his living and work space. Clear lines, school was anathema to thehe uupp as BBauhaus teachers: geometrical shapes, modern materials Nazis. But German democ-c- LyonLyonele Feininger, Jo- were the basis for functional, simple racy came back to stay. Andd hanhannesn Itten, Wassily pieces of furniture and everyday objects after its closure in Germany, Kandinsky,Kan Paul Klee, like crockery and cutlery, lamps and the Bauhaus went global. It, GerhardGerh Marcks, Os- multi-coloured abstract tapestries. The too, is here to stay – defi n- kar Schlemmer, and steel tube chair “Wassily” designed by ing style, taste and every- LászlóLász Moholy-Nagy Marcel Breuer, Josef Hartwig’s chess set, day life worldwide. And in rushedrush to Thuringia Peter Keler’s cradle, Marianne Brandt’s 2019, the Bauhaus will be to workw as “Masters tea set, the Wagenfeld and Jucker lamp celebrating its centenary! of FForm.” “Workshop have long become icons of style and Its founding direc- MMasters”,ast on the other design. In the 1920s, they were revolu- tor Walter Gropius hadd hhand,and were to teach tionary. Also with houses, factories, and dropped out of architecturere tthehe sstudentst the skills apartments form was now to follow func- ung Weimar Weimar ung Ō

school. Good looking andnd of ccrafts.raf tion. Glass and steel constructions sub- Ɵ highly-decorated in WWII forfor ComCommittedm to multi- stituted heavy brick-work. The Golden valor at the front, Gropiusus hhahadd ddisciplinarityisciplin and peda- Twenties craved innovation, provocation already made his mark withith revolu-revvollu-- ggogics,ogics, GGropius also drew – the unconventional. tionary designs like a factorytory buildingbuiilding uup tthehe BaBauhausu curriculum: And now it was party time, too. Extra-

for shoe last producer Fagusgus in AAlfeldlfeld Cradle designed by Peter Keler ““T“Thehe sstudentstuden will be instruct- curricular activities were written law Burzik / Klassik S Alexander 2017 | SUPPLEMENT VISIONS | VII

at the Bauhaus: “Friendly intercourse is called here. The original German archi- between masters and students outside tecture had to pay tribute to the climatic work; theatre performances, lectures, conditions of the Holy Land. Large glass poetry, music, fancy dress parties. Build- fronts were replaced by small shutter like ing a buoyant ceremonial at these gath- windows; narrow canopied balconies pro- erings.” A famous photograph showing tect from the ﬁ erce sun and heat. Over the a group of Bauhauslers in high spirits, decades since they were constructed, most bursting out of a door laughing and of the buildings have become the worse smoking testiﬁ es to the buoyancy, if not for wear. A UNESCO World Heritage site the ceremonial. Bauhaus parties quickly since 2003, Tel Aviv has begun tending to became legendary. its Bauhaus treasure. Substantial renova- tions are being carried out. The German Art and technology federal government supports the spruc- ing up of these buildings which are much And how did the good people of Wei- loved by their inhabitants. mar react to all this? Not just the revel- From Thuringia into the world – since ing was observed with suspicion – would 2009 Berlin photographer Jean Molitor these young wild things also rob the lo- has been following Bauhaus traces. His cal craftsmen of their livelihoods? Were work beautifully documents Bauhaus perhaps communists at work there? inspired buildings, i.e. in Cuba, Turkey, Early on, Gropius was forced to assure Morocco, Tartastan, and Burundi. And that all Bauhaus students were “Aryans”, Christian Benimana, director of the Af- of German origin, German speakers and rican Design Center in Kigali, thinks that that the 17 students of Jewish origin had today Bauhaus should serve as an inspira- mostly been baptized and were not re- tion for modern African urban planning. ceiving grants… However, two of the But not all made it out into the world. Bauhaus masters were of Jewish descent: One of the most talented Bauhau students, László Moholy-Nagy and Marcel Breuer. Friedel Dicker, who had followed Johannes As for sustenance: The Bauhaus lot Itten from Vienna to Weimar, could not favoured healthy and communal fare. build a new life for herself in a distant land. Home-grown vegetables were pureed, Born in Vienna, the all-rounder had joined but the mash needed spicing up. Alma the Bauhaus in 1919. She was a photogra- Mahler – later Werfel, in the interim al- pher by training but also carved puppets, so Mrs. Gropius – as vicious as she was designed stage sets, costumes, jewellery, beautiful, remarked that the one unfor- stackable chairs, kindergarten interiors. In gettable characteristic of the Bauhaus 1942, she was deported to Theresienstadt. was that its members “reeked of garlic.” There she dedicated herself to caring for In the summer of 1923, the Bauhaus the children. During lovingly equipped presented the fruits of its endeavors to theatre performances and painting lessons the public in a large exhibition. In its epi- she granted the little ones short respites centre: The Haus am Horn, a residential of normality and joy in the hell they were house built especially for the show. On a living in. In 1944, Friedl Dicker was killed

footnote: Gropius’ original design for the JVG in Auschwitz. house had been rejected. Instead, Georg In the White City Tel Aviv Muche, a young painter, woodcutter and weaver, received the commission. Com- could now be produced in large fort, functionality, and eﬃ ciency were numbers. Good (Bauhaus) de- the masters of this house. The interior, sign became accessible to ma- carpets, radiators, tiles, furniture had all ny people. The exhibition was been manufactured in Bauhaus work- a huge success with visitors, vecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/deed.en shops. The Haus am Horn has recently critics, and the press alike – Ɵ ps://crea been lovingly restored to its original also internationally. Ʃ glory and is now part of UNESCO World But dark clouds had been gath- Heritage sites in Weimar. If you happen ering over Weimar’s Bauhaus to be in the area, don’t forget to take a for some time. Finances were a peek into the kitchen –Theodor Bogler’s problem from the beginning al- storage set is a must have for design lov- though Gropius had somehow ers ‘til this day. always managed to scrape by. on-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported (CC BY-SA 3.0) / h (CC BY-SA 3.0 Unported on-ShareAlike Never at a loss for a grand statement, Now in 1924, Thuringia’s social Ɵ ribu Gropius pronounced “Art and Tech- democratic government, which Ʃ nology – a New Unity” at the opening had been in favor of the Bau- of the show. This was a new depar- haus, was superseded by con-

ture for the Bauhaus since thanks to servative-nationalistic powers. / Wikimedia A Joe Ravi modern assembly methods and ma- Gropius was informed that not The New Bauhaus in Chicago: Illinois Ins tute of Technology terials, objects designed in its school even half of the required means would be available. Cautionary no- Chicago. Here, the Weimar curriculum Today, Bauhaus pilgrims have plenty to tice was given to Bauhaus teachers. was developed further. A pioneer in archi- explore in Thuringia: The former Bauhaus And thus, the odyssey began. In tecture, design, and photography in North school building in Weimar, a UNESCO 1925, the school moved to Des- America, the New Bauhaus is currently cel- World Heritage site, is now bustling with sau. Three years later, Gropius ebrating its 80th anniversary. students of Bauhaus University. In Jena, left. His successor Hannes Meyer Mies van der Rohe also left Germany the refectory at Philosophenweg beck- was director for a mere three years for the United States; in the late 1950s he ons, in Erfurt Haus Schellhorn and the when he was given notice for po- was to design the famous Seagram Build- building of the savings bank in the main litical reasons. He was succeeded ing in New York. Naum Slutzky, Bauhaus square Anger. Find out how the legendary by Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, an master goldsmith, made England his Bauhaus weavers Gunta Stölzl and Benita vecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/de/deed.en Ɵ architect like his predecessors. home. He was to found the department Koch-Otte created their tapestries at Mar- ps://crea

Ʃ Then, the 1931 elections made the of industrial design at the Royal College garetha-Reichhardt-Haus. Dornburg pot- Nazis the largest party in Des- of Art in London. tery, originating in the Weimar Bauhaus, sau. They immediately chased the is still in operation. And on a bicycle tour Bauhaus out of town. The school World Heritage sites through the surrounding countryside you continued as a private institution will discover churches and other motifs fa- in Berlin; in 1933 it was dissolved But not just the teachers disseminated the miliar from Lyonel Feininger’s paintings. under Nazi pressure. Bauhaus spirit all over the world. Many of 2019 is nigh – and with it the Bauhaus Consequently, many Bauhauslers those who had studied there and left Ger- centenary. All three Bauhaus sites – Wei- on-ShareAlike 2.0 Germany (CC BY-SA 2.0 DE) h (CC BY-SA 2.0 Germany on-ShareAlike Ɵ left Germany. Walter Gropius emi- many took it with them. One of them was mar, Dessau, and Berlin – will open spec- ribu Ʃ grated to England, then to America Arieh Sharon. A student of Gropius, he was tacular new museum buildings with new where he was welcomed by the Grad- to become one of Israel’s leading architects. exhibitions. All over Thuringia, exhibi- uate School of Design at Harvard. Today, Tel Aviv boasts the largest assem- tions will be celebrating the jubilee. The László Moholy-Nagy who had joined blage of Bauhaus architecture worldwide. kick-oﬀ , “Ways from the Bauhaus” will the Bauhaus in Weimar in 1923, set The “White City” is proud of its 4,000 build- open its doors in August 2017 in Weimar Staircase, Bauhaus University Weimar

Hans Weingartz / Wikimedia A Hans Weingartz out to found the New Bauhaus in ings in the International Style, as Bauhaus – where it all began. ■ VIII | HERITAGE & FUTURE SUPPLEMENT | 2017

A CONVERSATION WITH THE PRIME MINISTER We Embrace Our Responsibility Bodo Ramelow on his commitment to Jewish aﬀ airs

our fi rst journey abroad as prime obligation not to forget or relativize Nazi Topf & Söhne, the place where the incin- minister of Thuringia led you to Is- terror or the Holocaust. I wanted to make erators where built, plays an important role Y rael. It was however not your fi rst a point with my journey and had a Buchen- in Erfurt as a place of gathering, as well as visit. Why? wald survivor, Natalie Fürst, accompany me the Old Synagogue where the Jewish gold Israel is an exciting and fascinating country. throughout my entire journey. With a large treasure is on display. History, the present You can say without a doubt that Israel is the business and scientifi c delegation we visited and the past, is together connected with country where world history began. Also, the many universities and companies in Israel and the UNESCO World Heritage proposal for world religions have their roots in Israel and made new contacts. The fi rst journey was a Jewish life in Erfurt. The bright and the

its neighboring regions. As I am personally great success and we promoted Thuringia dark sides are connected in Erfurt so that Neumann TSK / Barbara devoted to the training of cantors and rabbis specifi cally in Israel to make people curious we actively live with this responsibility, so in my function as a foundation board mem- about our state. that a “Never Again” to anti-Semitism has intercultural encounters. I am pleased that ber of Abraham Geiger College, I have long a lively home in Erfurt. We are happy to at the beginning of the 21st century we can been curious about Jerusalem, Tel Aviv, and What makes the relationship between Er- welcome guests from Haifa but also Jewish witness how in a new, democratic Germany the whole of Israel. So I fi rst visited Israel to furt and its partner city Haifa so special? visitors from all over the world. Jewish culture and Jewish faith are taking attend the 2008 ICCJ interfaith congress and Haifa is a beautiful city on the sea. Cos- root again. returned to Germany full of new impressions mopolitan and modern, relaxed and curi- What signifi cance does the fostering of and a huge curiosity to come back again. ous, and fi ts to Erfurt. The partnership has and support for Jewish life in Thuringia have What role does the Jüdische Landesgemeinde I also met Avital Ben-Chorin who was born been alive and well for a long time. For for you and the state? the Jewish community in the state already in Eisenach and escaped Nazi terror with a instance, the Leo Baeck Education Center We are grateful for the new Jewish life play and what role will it play in the future? Kindertransport a rescue mission for Jew- has visited Erfurt with its great musical pro- that enriches our cities and communities. It For me as prime minister it is espe- ish children to Palestine. It was my special gram “Step by Step – Sauwa Sauwa”. Thus, gives our home state Thuringia a fresh and cially close to my heart that the Jüdische wish to help in adopting a resolution across during my Israel journey, it was a pleasure sappy thrust of vitality, dynamics, future, Landesgemeinde can shape Jewish life in party lines in the city council of Eisenach to for me to visit the mayor of Haifa together and perspective. Every year we celebrate freedom, protected as best as possible by grant Avital Ben-Chorin honorary citizen- with the mayor of Erfurt to also set a sign Jewish-Israeli cultural days in Thuringia that the state and supported by society. The state ship and to accompany this process. of friendship. attract a growing audience. Thanks to the government supports the state community general enthusiasm for klezmer the Yiddish in its eff orts to preserve Jewry in all its tra- What is unusual about your fi rst journey You emphasize time and time again how Summer Weimar has become one of the ditional diversity and identity, is committed is that it had Israel as its sole destination. important it is for German-Jewish recon- most renowned festivals for Yiddish music to the principles of the Torah as well as to a My fi rst journey abroad as newly elected ciliation to cope with the past. and culture worldwide. The Achava Festi- cosmopolitan understanding of Jewish life prime minister in 2015 was focused solely on Defi nitively. From our perspective it is val that in 2015 took place in Erfurt for the and culture. ■ Israel especially because Thuringia more than important to emphasize that Er- fi rst time has become something of a tra- withwiihth tthe he concon-- centrationcentration campscam furt embraces its responsibility for its past dition. Dialogue stands at the center of the Bodo Ramelow is the prime minister Buchenwald and Dora hahass aann during the Nazi era. Thus, the memorial festival and allows for many interfaith and of Thuringia

MUST-SEE FINDINGS Testimony of Medieval Ashkenaz The Old Synagogue of Erfurt hosts a unique treasure

the so-called Erfurt Trea- thus constitutes an important sure is on exhibit, a trove testimonial for early Christian of gold and silver jewelry, Hebraism. In Berlin, the pre- tableware,t and rare coins dis- cious convolute eventually be- coveredco about two decades came an object of research for ago.ag It was concealed within Jewish scholars. thethe foundation of a 12th-centu- It was only after 1990 that the Weimar und Archäologie, ege ryry househ in the medieval Jewish ﬂ original structures and the un- Papenfuss / Atelier für Gestaltung / Atelier Papenfuss qquarterua of the city and was in all rendered West facade of the lilikelihoodkel buried by Kalman von Old Synagogue, were discov- Wiehe,Wieh the Jewish house owner, ered and salvaged, and it took justjust beforeb the Black Plague po- special restoration measures to gromsgromo devastated Erfurt’s Jewish preserve the traces of time. To- communitycomm in 1349. In the same gether with the Stone House – year,year, with the Jews being killed or a private building dating back

expelled,l the synagogue next door für Denkmalp Thüringisches Landesamt B. Stefan, to 1250 which can be related was converted into a storehouse. to Jewish owners − a medieval By Gideon Wollberg The treasure, which has a total unique collection. Second, the manuscripts were locked away ritual bath, gravestones from weight of about 28 kilograms, vast number of coins and ingots until the second half of the 17th the 13th century, the Old Syna- e had an amazing comprises more than 3,000 sil- demonstrates Erfurt’s status as century, and then appeared on gogue forms a unique testimo- time,” said Rabbi ver coins, 14 silver ingots, and a medieval center for trade and the inventory list of the library ny to Jewish life and culture in W Richard Steinberg of over 600 pieces of jewelry and commerce. In addition, the exhi- of the Evangelical Ministry in Central Europe. It is only natu- Orange County in California, af- has been on display since 1999. bition oﬀ ers a glimpse into Jew- the Augustinian Monastery, ral that the city is applying for ter a rather spontaneous stop- The most prominent piece is ish life and culture in Central from where they were sold in UNESCO World Heritage sta- over in Erfurt. “We thoroughly a golden Jewish wedding ring Europe, Ashkenaz, before the 1880 to the Royal Library in Ber- tus. The Small Synagogue, inau- enjoyed ourselves and learnt a from the early 14th century. De- Black Death. lin. The manuscripts consist of gurated in 1840 and today a mu- great deal.” The Steinbergs were signed in the shape of a tow- Another focus of the exhibi- three very valuable Bible manu- seum devoted to the local Jewish absolutely enthralled by their er, its raised inscription reads tion is a collection of medieval scripts, four Torah scrolls from history of the 19th and 20th cen- visit to the Old Synagogue, a mazal tov, good luck. The ﬁ nd Jewish manuscripts that docu- the 13th and 14th centuries, and turies, adds considerably to this medieval gem in the townscape was in several respects sensa- ments the highly developed in- a number of other writings. The ensemble. No question, Erfurt of Thuringia’s capital. The Alte tional. First, very little jewelry tellectual life of the Erfurt Jew- most impressive piece is the Gi- has become a must-see destina- Synagoge with parts dating from or artwork from wealthy private ish community. Originally, a ant Erfurt Bible, copied in 1343. tion for the traveler interested the 11th century is the oldest syn- households of the Middle Ages bundle of 17 manuscripts, they Scholars say that the collection in Jewish history. Next spring, agogue in Central Europe that has survived. Its non-ecclesias- ended up in the hands of the holds numerous clues to its re- Rabbi Steinberg will be back – has been preserved from its foun- tical Gothic style goldsmith’s municipality during the plague ception after 1349 in the form bringing with him a large group dation to its roof. In its cellars, work makes the treasure a pogrom of 1349. The valuable of apostils and comments and of synagogue members. ■ Serving everyone means serving every single one.

We are the postal service for 82 million people in Germany. And every day we give our all for every single one of them. Whatever the weather, our 87,000 mail carriers and 21,000 parcel carriers are out and about across the country, making sure that 61 million letters and almost 4 million parcels safely reach their recipients the day after being posted. With this unique service, our carriers make Deutsche Post the postal service for Germany. www.deutschepost.de 18 | ECONOMY JEWISH VOICE FROM GERMANY | JULY 2017

INNOVATION THE SPUDY COLUMN Sustainable Germany is Stepping Up E-Mobility Investments

Range still remains the thorniest issue It was a bombshell, or as Mexico’s former President, Vincente Fox, dramati- cally phrased it, a “declaration of war By Klaus Dieter Oehler against the entire planet,” when US President Trump announced Washing- lon Musk is known as a vi- ton’s withdrawal from the Paris Agree- sionary. As an engineer he ment. It was not until the end of 2015 ﬁ rmly believes in innova- that the two largest national econo- vecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/ tion and entrepreneurship. Ɵ mies, China and the USA, joined the ps://crea EMaking transportation sustainable Ʃ global climate agreement, which aims and powered by clean energy has to limit global warming to less than 2°C been on his agenda for over a de- compared to the pre-industrial era. This cade. While he did not invent the historic step had ensured the niche top- 2.0) h on 2.0 Generic (CC BY electric car – that honor goes to Ɵ ic climate change the necessary atten- ribu 19th century Scottish inventor Rob- Ʃ tion. It was now discussed more widely ert Anderson – Musk, in his role as and anchored the environment, social product architect and CEO of Tesla, responsibility and good corporate gov- has certainly helped make e-mobili- ernance (known as the ESG Criteria) ty a reality while many European car in the minds of investors. Sustainabil- on 8638198650_61c33ccf17_o / A makers were still experimenting. It Ɵ ity was suddenly in vogue, and cor- wasn’t until Chancellor Angela responding investment opportunities Merkel announced in 2013 that she sprung up like mushrooms. expected at least one million electric It’s no wonder that the US’ exit is now vehicles on German roads by 2020 arousing concern. But when looked at that executives at Daimler, BMW, more closely, it quickly becomes ap- Volkswagen, and others started to parent that there is no reason for the

up their game. Now, a recent study sta charging / Flickr Electric car Dahlström Håkan world to be paralyzed with shock – by Swiss bank UBS predicts that by on the contrary! In many countries 2030, 23 percent of newly registered vehi- than gasoline and diesel vehicles, and they The purchase of data specialists Nokia that have pursued their climate goals cles will be electrically powered. require recharging after only a few hundred Here by Audi, BMW, and Daimler shows half-heartedly until now, Trump’s de- While German car makers have for de- kilometers. The network of quick-charging that German carmakers are keen to main- cision has acted like a wake-up call. cades been at the forefront of automotive stations is still far from adequate. President tain their technological edge, includ- And even in the US itself, it is far from technology, for a long time they seemed to of the German Automobile Industry As- ing against Silicon Valley heavyweights clear whether the resist the idea that electric motors might sociation (VDA) Matthias Wissmann says such as Google. In the early years, both economy and in- one day entirely replace combustion en- that currently only about 55,000 electric Daimler and Toyota had looked to Tesla dustry will actu- gines. Thus, the popularity of Japanese vehicles are registered for use in Germany. entrepreneur Elon Musk for ideas, but ally say goodbye built hybrid and electric vehicles caught Wissmann believes that the purchase pre- meanwhile they are pursuing their own to future tech- their attention but did little to speed up mium and tax benefi ts introduced in early strategies. Although Germany’s reputa- nologies. After market entry. Instead German engineers July 2016 could serve as a spur to sales. But tion in the technology sector has suff ered the presidential continued to focus on the reduction of fuel the charging infrastructure continues to somewhat of late, German engineers still election, more consumption – with success. Only in 2012, pose an obstacle. Currently, Germany has have plenty to off er when it comes to than 300 US cor- did Mercedes begin mass production of the only 7,407 regular charging points and 292 e-mobility. Automotive supplier Conti- porations and 280 Smart Fortwo Electric Drive, the fi rst Ger- quick-charging stations. A federal invest- nental, for example, has developed the major investors Spudy Invest man model to be available to the public. ment of 300 million € could raise that fi gure fi rst-ever system for wireless charging wrote an open let- But technology has continued to develop to about 15,000 regular public charging sta- of electric cars and motorcycles. Volk- ter urging Donald Trump not to pull apace. Battery technology in particular has tions and several thousand quick-charging swagen is aiming to become the global out of the climate agreement. made great strides in recent years. market leader in e-mobility, while A number of large cities and even Tesla’s new batteries, which cost BMW has promised that by 2020, US states, including economic heavy- less than €200 per kWh, will make e-vehicles will cost the same as weight California, want to proceed on it possible to utilize solar energy at combustion-powered models. their own initiative. Although Trump’s a low cost, even at night. This devel- Battery technology has Daimler is partnering with BAIC abandonment of renewable energies opment has been driven by a rapid “ to take on the Chinese market. has given fossil fuel dealers and users reduction in costs. High-quality bat- But Henning Kagermann, chair some breathing space, no one really ex- teries produced on a large scale for made great strides recently Germany’s National Electro-mo- pects these eff ects to last. Stock market electromobility can also be used in bility Platform and former co-chief performance is interesting: While the stationary systems for storing wind of the German software giant SAP, Dow Jones Sustainability US Index has and solar energy. Battery performance, ones. Wissmann also argues in favor of elim- remains disappointed by the pace of de- risen by only twelve percent since Don- both during the day and overnight, will be inating the hurdles to the establishment of velopment. At a recent conference, Kager- ald Trump’s election, the Dow Jones a key factor in the rise in electromobility. private charging stations. Moreover, Ford, mann noted, “It would be better if things Industrial grew 16 percent. In the same In light of climate change, some countries Daimler, BMW, and Volkswagen have an- were moving more quickly.” For Kager- period, however, global-oriented sus- have already announced ambitious pronounced plans to establish a quick-charge mann, who commutes about 80 kilome- tainable investments performed even grams. Norway and several US states, for network along European highways. Accord- ters a day, an electric vehicle would be the better. This refl ects the expectation that example, have announced plans to elimi- ing to Wissmann, this demonstrates “how perfect solution. Europe, China, and India will take on nate new registrations of combustion-pow- seriously German manufacturers are taking Thus far, however, range remains the the role of pioneers in the near future. ered vehicles as early as 2030. electromobility, and their determination to thorniest issue. Here, too, Elon Musk is It’s not yet certain what exactly this team up to tackle this joint project, along promising a “revolution.” Tesla is pinning will mean for investors. Markets have A tough sell the lines of the Nokia Here purchase.” its hopes on the battery powered Model clearly become more uncertain and vol- Wissmann emphasizes that electromo- Y crossover SUV, which is scheduled for atile, and this will continue in the near The question of e-mobility has thus be- bility is an important force for Germany a 2019 market release. Musk believes that future – that also goes for really robust come a pressing one for the German auto as a center of technology and industry. E- the electro-SUV will prove even more ESG investments. Anyone who wants industry. Some years ago, German auto- mobility will help pave the way for a further popular on the mass market than current to make an impact by directly investing makers began investing heavily in R&D, expansion of the high-tech and industrial electric vehicles. The carmaker plans to in companies with sustainable business developing fuel cells and even hydrogen sector in the country. Worldwide, some 34 produce 500,000 vehicles per year by 2018, practices has no choice but to seek ad- combustion engines alongside battery- percent of patents in the area of electro- with that fi gure set to rise to one million vice from specialists. Analyzing invest- powered e-mobility solutions. Daimler mobility and 32 percent of patents in the by 2020. But the company still has a long ment in companies using ESG factors is said to be working on six electrically area of hybrid drives come from Germany. way to go. Last year, only around 84,000 is a very complex task that should not powered model lines. After China, Germany is currently the sec- vehicles rolled off the Tesla production be underestimated. Thorough due dili- But it’s still unclear where the market for ond-largest producer of electric vehicles. lines. In the fi rst quarter of this year, Tesla gence is just as important as ongoing e-mobility will be. Germany will likely fall According to Wissmann, McKinsey market achieved new records in production, de- systematic controlling and reporting. far short of its ambitious goal of one million analysts predict that within fi ve years Ger- liveries, and turnover, but the company This is the only way to ensure that in- electrically powered vehicles by 2020, prob- many will be the world’s largest producer still slid further into the red. ■ vestments in sustainability are also sus- ably achieving only about 10 percent of that of electric vehicles, with approximately 1.3 tainably successful – especially in politi- goal. Battery-driven vehicles are a tough million such vehicles rolling off German Klaus Dieter Oehler is fi nancial editor cally uncertain times. ■ sell in Germany. They are more expensive production lines each year. at the daily Stuttgarter Zeitung JULY 2017 | JEWISH VOICE FROM GERMANY ECONOMY | 19

for diff erent reusable materials Karolin Övünc, produc on planning and materials manager, makes sure that all reusable materials are recycled on the company’s premises and 99 percent of all the production waste is now recycled or upcy- cled. She has also gotten rid of the words “waste” and “trash”, as the incidence of residues that require thermal recycling has dropped by three quarters. Karolin Övünc and the whole plant are proud of these fi gures, which have also been certifi ed by bifa, an independent environmental institute.

Save raw materials

Increasing the responsible treatment of resources is a central topic for Coca-Cola. Ulrike Sapiro, the company’s director of sustainability in Europe says: “How would it be if we started to see the collection of reusable materials as a new way of extracting raw materials? Our packaging should not only be lighter and simpler but should also be part of the value chain.” In 2015, Coca-Cola introduced a new form of packaging in Germany made entirely from RESOURCES recycled PET bottles. In other words: a bottle becomes another bottle, without the need for new raw materials, an innova- Everything Has a Value tion for which Coca-Cola won the German Packaging Award. Already, 95 percent of Coca- Corporation implements the principle of circular economy Cola plastic bottles are recycled in Germany, also thanks to the deposit. Thus, the materials cy- By Leane Zaborowski cle continues to close. “We have already achieved a great deal,” percent. Karolin Övünc says Ulrike Sapiro. “But our aim is proud of this num- is to require even less raw mate- 99 ber. She points to the rials, possibly none at all.” board hanging above the con- Coca-Cola produces and ﬁ lls tainers: “Everything has a value.” up to 76,000 bottles an hour This was the thought behind it all. in Genshagen, around 250 mil- Coca-Cola has been producing lion per year. “Sustainability at Genshagen near Berlin, in the is a clear area of responsibil- district of Teltow-Fläming, since ity for Coca-Cola,” says Karolin 1998. The plant is one of the Övünc. When she started the most modern in the entire Fed- project looking for alternative eral Republic and certainly the recyclable materials, there was most water eﬃ cient in the com- one sentence that she heard pany. As with all of Coca-Cola’s particularly often from suppli- bottling plants in Germany, it is ers and disposal companies: run exclusively on energy from “No-one’s ever asked that.” In renewable sources. On average, the future, this process for op- 94 percent of the reusable mate- timising the recycling of reus- rials generated on the premises able materials will be adopted covering 158,000 square metres by other Coca-Cola plants. A are recycled, as at all of Coca- team in Karlsruhe has already Cola’s locations in Germany. A started implementing it. And good value. But good is some- Karolin Övünc looks forward to times not good enough. sharing all the answers she has Bo le tops on the brink – of being used again

Karolin Övünc has been work- Deutschland (4) Coca-Cola found in the meantime. ■ ing for Coca-Cola since 2003. Af- ter her training as an industrial The good ones go into the pot … recycling containers for diﬀ erent materials manager she began a part-time course to qualify as an industrial engineer. Today, she is in charge of production planning and materials management in Genshagen. In 2015, she took on the pilot project for the circular economy at the Genshagen lo- cation, working closely with recycling expert Interseroh. Her target: To further optimise the recovery of any reusable materials left over after the production process. Since then Karolin Övünc has identiﬁ ed more than 50 reusable materials, including four types of paper and eight types of foil and plastics. There are more than 300 containers Cardboard cores wai ng for new tasks 20 | ARTS & CULTURE JEWISH VOICE FROM GERMANY | JULY 2017

BERLIN 1937 In the Shadow of Things to Come An exhibition examines life in Germany’s capital under Nazi rule

By Hartmut Bomhoff day of Don Isaac Abravanel, a Jewish leader in fanatically n a pharmacy toothpaste Christian Spain, with a com- with a swastika. A mood memorative medal and a se- of fear such as must have ries of public events. existed in France under In August 1937, Berlin’s dis- Ithe Jacobins,” noted Victor trict of Prenzlauer Berg had Klemperer in March 1933. “No the inscription “Für Juden one fears for their lives yet – verboten” (“Oﬀ limits for but for bread and freedom.” Jews”) painted on 92 of 100 The diaries of the scholar park benches, and local au- provide an exceptional ac- thorities did not intervene count of day-to-day life in but discussed the possibility Nazi Germany. Some weeks of expanding the measure before, in a radio speech into a citywide regulation. on February 10, Hitler had It was not only the Reich in- pledged to turn the economy stitutions located in Berlin around: “People of Germany, that contributed to making give us four years and then the German capital true to pass judgment upon us!” the Nazi line. Especially the “Give me four years' time” local administrative appa- – with this slogan, the new- ratuses were a driving force ly appointed chancellor had of the dictatorship. Berlin’s promised a total transforma- government agencies sup- tion of German society. In the plemented the Nuremberg spring of 1937, an exhibition race laws with additional in Berlin showcased recent regulations that targeted the Detail of typewriter “Olympia”, Europa Schreibmaschinen AG Berlin, after 1933

achievements of the regime, Ziebe Berlin / Oliver Stadtmuseum Jewish population and insti- for example increasing employment and rearmament. By that time, cerpts which bear witness to the decep- dents had realized how bad thingsgs couldd the National Socialist dictatorship had tive normality under the Nazi regime. The get, though there were infamous excepexcep-- permeated all aspects of German everyday exhibition takes a multi-media approach tions: In February 1937, Nationalal GeoGeo-- life. The previous year had been shaped to give deep insights into life in the city at graphic published “Changing Berlin.”rlin.” IInn by the Wehrmacht’s invasion of the de- the time from a wide range of perspectives. his 47-page feature story, a lovingg paean militarized Rhineland and by the Olym- to a regime considered as eﬃ cientnt and pic Games. Soon to follow were the “An- Censorship and conformity benign, Douglas Chandler paintedted a schluss” of Austria, the Sudeten crisis, and happy portrait of Berlin. By that time,ime, the November pogroms of 1938. Diplomats, businessmen, and artists the Nazi regime had completed a pepe-- 1937, however, was characterized by from all over the world were stationed riod of power consolidation and was a false sense of calm in Germany – inin Berlin, providing a broad interna- yet to begin preparing for war – it was cluding Berlin. What was the city like tional view. However, even foreign cor- a phase of relative calm for Germany,many,

for its residents as they went from their respondents were not free to report as both domestically and in internationaltional Ziebe Berlin / Oliver Stadtmuseum homes to school or to work, to church they saw fi t. “I myself was to experience relations. This comparatively unevent-event- or to synagogue, to air raid exercises or how easily one is taken in by a lying and ful time is the focus of the exhibition’sbition’s to a dance? What changed under Nazi censored press and radio in a totalitarian analytical depiction of everydayy life inin rule, what remained the same? What state,” remembered American journal- the city. The show has been conceivednceived were the consequences for individuals ist William L. Shire, who became known as a walk-around tour that encompasses and for societal groups? And: To what for his broadcasts from Berlin. “No one views of the urban landscape, represen- degree was it possible to recognize the who has not lived for years in a totali- tations of everyday life, special displays, tutions, including day care centers, book system’s criminal nature before the war tarian land can possibly conceive how places of fear, and historical themes on a shops, and housing. The approval level and the Holocaust began? diffi cult it is to escape the dread conse- wide range of subjects. of Nazism was very high among Berlin In its special exhibition “In the Shadow quences of a regime’s calculated and in- In 1937, the Jewish Community of Berlin police offi cers, who investigated and ar- of Things to Come“ (“Im Schatten von cessant propaganda.” In 1937, Berlin was numbered about 140,000 members. The rested regime dissidents, Jews, homosex- morgen”), Berlin’s Märkisches Museum, still Germany’s newspaper capital. News- ever-more prevalent anti-Semitism awoke uals, Sinti and Roma, as well as socially which explores the history of Berlin from paper bans and closures, as well as the a growing desire for re-orientation. Many marginalized groups, and turned them its origins to this day, presents a collec- lack of critical reporting due to political of Berlin’s Jews still believed a sense of over to the SS or the Gestapo. tion of unique, never-before displayed pressure, had substantial impact on the solidarity would allow them to deal with “No people ever recognize their dictator original objects, historical photos, docu- press, which was forced into compliancy isolation, loss, and humiliation, and that in advance,” refl ected US journalist Dor- ments, sound recordings, and fi lm ex- and conformity. Most foreign correspon- a return to religious values would help othy Thompson in 1935. The actual im- to foster a sense of identity and commu- pact on society was often apparent only nity. Force and deceit were used to drive at second glance. Amateur photographs, German Jews out of professional and eco- passed down through family narratives, nomic life. Self-employed, middle-class evoked and still evoke both empathetic Jews, particularly doctors and lawyers, identifi cation and a critical distance. In found their livelihood threatened, and the cultural sector, Nazi infl uence was more and more Jewish families had to apparent not so much in what the spec- take advantage of the off erings of Jewish tators were presented, as in what was relief agencies to fi ght social decline. In not shown. The exhibition space itself an increasingly hostile environment, Jew- is also an object of critical refl ection. In ish schools provided one of the last ref- 1937, the Märkisches Museum took part uges for children and young people, who in Berlin's 700-year anniversary celebra- had very little chance of entering skilled tions, which were exploited by the Nazi professions after completing school. The regime. “It is time that we confront this Reich Federation of Jewish Cultural Asso- era more intensively,” says Director Paul ciation, which had been founded in 1935, Spies. “This is especially important in in July 1937 was comprised of 122 inde- times when facts, values, and political pendent organizations throughout Ger- positions are changing and society is in many and had to cope with emigration, the midst of a transformation.” ■ poverty, and the state’s attempt of ghet-

Stadtmuseum Berlin Stadtmuseum toization. To foster Jewish pride, the Jew- Im Schatten von Morgen runs at Märkisches View of the synagogue in Fasanenstraße, captured by photo journalist Harry Croner in 1937 ish Community marked the 500th birth- Museum Berlin until 14 January 2018 How Germany ticks deutschland

New. On all channels. deutschland.de facebook.com/deutschland.de instagram.com/deutschland_de twitter.com/de_deutschland

➔ in 9 languages ➔ topical and illustrative ➔ informative and interactive Getty Images/Westend61 22 | ARTS & CULTURE JEWISH VOICE FROM GERMANY | JULY 2017

LEGAL ROADMAP A Comprehensive Introduction to Israeli Law An academic cooperation between Jerusalem and Potsdam closes a gap

By Gideon Wollberg a visiting professor at there have been several politi- the University of Pots- cal initiatives aiming to limit its t is absolutely re- dam. In Jerusalem, he competences. Since countries markable that a holds the Greenblatt like Poland, Hungary or Tur- I German-Israeli Chair of Public and In- key face the same situation as joint venture is behind ternational Law and is Israel, the book sheds light on the best overview in the head of the Sacher the role a strong and indepen- this fi eld you can fi nd Institute of Legislative dent Supreme Court can have on the market today,” Research and Compar- in a stable democracy when it said Elmar Esser at the ative Law. One main comes to defending constitu- German Bundestag in fi eld he has been work- tional rights. mid-June during the ing on constantly for “I am pleased that we suc- vecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/deed.en book launch of Jewish Ɵ many years is judicial ceeded in publishing a volume and Israeli Law: An In- independence. With on Jewish and Israeli law which ps://crea troduction. The First Ʃ his background as a provides a convenient, compre- Chair of the German- former cabinet minis- hensive monograph for schol- Israeli Lawyers Associ- ter of the State of Isra- ars as well as informed read- ation explained: “This el and an international ers,” Shimon Shetreet sums it 2.0) h on 2.0 Generic (CC BY book closes a gap in Ɵ expert in comparative up. “In addition to contempo- ribu publications about the Ʃ law, the right person rary issues we made sure that Jewish and the Israeli had been identifi ed the monograph off ers historical legal system.” Esser as- to extend the project background on the issues dis- sured the two authors, into a thorough road- cussed to insure deeper under-

Shimon Shetreet and / Wikimedia A Zeevveez map and an exciting standing of the wider perspec- Walter Homolka, The Israel Supreme Court in Jerusalem, built in 1992 guidebook. “I assumed tives of the topics .” that the time it took the joint task of writ- to work on this book was well used to a legal framework that bi Walter Homolka, rector of ing the book as I realized invested. Addressing the audi- in general regulates all matters the Abraham Geiger College at that it was long overdue,” ence hosted by MP Volker Beck, of family aff airs like divorce etc. the University of Potsdam, had Shetreet explained at the Head of the German-Israeli it may sound surprising that in given a lecture on Jewish law Bundestag. For Elmar Es- Parliamentarians Group, he Israel as a Jewish state all these and its interrelations with na- ser it is certainly one of the highlighted two aspects of the questions are handled by the tional laws, great interest was authors’ main merits that diff erent religious com- raised among the assembled they describe this special munities on the basis of experts to learn more about the situation very accurately their own religious legal origins and development of law from diff erent perspectives. We realized that framework and jurisdic- in the State of Israel, about the The book, which was also “ tion.” The second pillar, whole variety of infl uences on presented at the offi ce of the Elmar Esser emphasized, Israeli law, and about its cur- Konrad Adenauer Founda- this book was is the comprehensive de- rent state of aff airs. tion in Jerusalem, address- long overdue scription of the Israeli le- es many current issues, forr gal culture and the sys- Judicial independence example the promotion off tem of government in the equality for women, minori-- 600 page thick compendium: State of Israel. Together with Rabbi Homol- ties, and Jews from diff er-r- De Gruyter “First of all it gives a very good The book, which is the only ka, who holds the Chair for ent countries, or the questionon overview of the two main pillars English language monograph in Modern Jewish Thought at the to what extent Israeli judges the Israeli Legal System today this fi eld, was initiated in Sep- Potsdam School of Jewish The- stand for the judicial review of Shimon Shetreet / Walter is based on. One of them is the tember 2009 during the 32nd ology, Professor Shimon Shet- legislative actions. For many Homolka: Jewish and Israeli Law history of Jewish law and its role National Convention of the reet of the Hebrew University years there has been a discus- – An Introduction. De Gruyter in the Israeli legal system today. German Society for Compara- of Jerusalem took on this excit- sion in Israel about the role of Berlin, 2017 XLVI, 575 pages, For German attorneys who are tive Law in Cologne. After Rab- ing project during his time as the Israel Supreme Court and € 59.95

BOMHOFF RECOMMENDS Embrace Arguments!

“But isn’t he a friend of says: ‘And therefore speaking openly about social divisions doesn’t exclude other opinions. Con- the terrorists?” was a fre- there ought to be no in Israel, for being one of the fi rst to sequently, the Talmud is replete with quent comment when Israel.’ I would say: recommend a two-state solution for the undecided controversies. The examples one of Israel’s foremost ‘You are not a part- Israel-Palestinian confl ict after the 1967 Oz presented span the broad range writers, Amos Oz, was ner in argument. Six-Day War, and for having criticized from Abraham, who challenged God, announced as the recipi- You are an anti- “the dehumanization of language.” In to today’s Israel: “We are an argumen- ent of this year’s Abraham Semite; you are an his response, the writer made clear tative nation: 8.5 million citizens, Jews Geiger Award. Others dis- enemy. I will fi ght that he knows that his country deserves and Arabs; 8.5 million prime ministers; missed him as a “naïve you rather than ar- better, but he didn’t get lost in settling 8.5 million prophets; 8.5 million messi- lefty.” Bias is a convenient gue with you. I will political scores. Instead, one quip was ahs – each and every one of us with his realm, and his critics were defend myself.’” followed by another. “We Israeli Jews, or her personal formula for immediate not around when the Is- And he continued: we only have to make peace with the redemption.” raeli ambassador recently “Someone who says Palestinians; we don’t have to make Amos Oz was honored in Berlin for

welcomed the awardee in JVG that those Jews who peace with their friends in Europe. “ﬁ rmly believing in the ability of peo- Berlin. They missed an op- regard themselves Their friends in Europe are tireless and ple to change the world for the better.” portunity to make up their minds. as a people have no right for self-deter- sometimes fanatic.” Touché! He also reminded us to remain vigi- In his acceptance speech for the mination, because they are ugly, or bad, “I am a great believer in curiosity,” lant. Too often we tend to boast that prize, which honors personalities who or God killers, or cruel or stupid, any- Amos Oz explained. His speech then biblical prophecy challenged authority promote pluralism, Oz talked straight one who says this is not a rival. Anyone became a tour de horizon of Jewish and social injustice, but not always do and emphasized that he does not en- who says this is an enemy.” non-conformism, argumentativeness, we live up to the Torah’s model of engage in dialogue with people who deny Earlier, Berlin’s Senator for Cul- and chutzpah. In Jewish law, the con- gaging with the reasonable dissenters Israel’s right to existence: “If a person ture Klaus Lederer, had praised Oz for cept of majority does apply, but that among us. ■ JULY 2017 | JEWISH VOICE FROM GERMANY A MENTSH | 23

JOHANNES BEERMANN A Discreet Humanist

By Rafael Seligmann generation. At least three dozen the rabbi, a vigorous and robust Chief of the State Chancellery tzadikim, or righteous ones, are man, removed his outer garment of Saxony, where he was instru- oliticians enjoy good deeds. needed to preserve what is good and began chopping wood. He mental in implementing poli- Most politicians have a de- in humanity. brought the wood into the hut, cies. Known as a pragmatic man P sire to assist others and This tradition also aligns with made a fi re, cooked a meal, and of action, Beermann also lent to be rewarded in return. This an old legend. An ancient story tended to the old woman. In a hand to musicians and art- also helps explain our desire for tells of a community that com- shame, the spy left and returned ists – quietly and without self- a happy end in fi lms and other plained about its rabbi, saying to the village. Later, when he was aggrandizement. When the forms of mass entertainment that he neglected his religious asked why he had ceased his ma- Jewish Voice from Germany of- – even though experience has duties and failed to tend prop- licious complaints, the man said, fered to publish a supplement shown that the end cannot al- erly to his fl ock. A critic of pious “Because your rabbi is far more that would present Saxony to ways be good. and romantic Hasidic tradition worthy of you than you suspect.” its worldwide readership, Beer- Yet we humans do not prove even went so far as to proclaim: Johannes Beermann also does mann immediately cooperated our worth on screen but rather “Your rabbi is not worthy of his not fi t the image of a do-gooder. – an off er that would earn him

in reality, away from the pub- A lawyer by training, the burly Rumpenhorst Frank vilifi cation from the far-right. lic eye. When the cameras have politician is known for his ironic But Beermann refused to be been switched off , and when and even sarcastic tone. But when Both before and after his work deterred, remaining a staunch we are liable at times to face Staunch advocate it comes down to it, the West- in Hintze’s offi ce, Beermann advocate for freedom and mu- derision for our conscientious “ phalian native can always be re- occupied various civil service tual understanding. After his activities. When good deeds of freedom lied upon. As a devout Catholic, posts, including one for the years in Dresden, Johannes are not rewarded but judged Beermann has little need for pi- state of Saxony. There he be- Beermann was appointed mem- in a negative light. The lack of ous remarks, preferring instead came familiar with the local ber of the executive board of the earthly reward for providing aid fl ock. Instead of preaching and to provide practical assistance. Jewish community, the majority German Bundesbank, one of the to the weaker among us is why living the Torah, he neglects After completing his law degree, of whom were Russian emigres. most eminent positions in Ger- Judaism places such emphasis his duties.” The man decides to Beermann fi rst embarked on a le- Whenever possible, Beermann many’s fi nancial economy. And on self-eff acing acts of human- spy on the rabbi. He observed gal career and worked on behalf provided help and assistance to once again, Johannes Beermann ity and compassion. This is al- the rabbi leaving his house. But of the Christian Democratic Par- the Jewish community – whole- occupies this post without fuss so what underlies the old Jew- rather than hurry to religious ser- ty. Among his many roles, Beer- heartedly and with a minimum and ado, preferring instead to ish tradition that the fate of the vice, the rabbi left the village and mann headed the offi ce of now- of bureaucracy. After postings quietly tend to the needs of oth- world rests on the shoulders went to the forest. Upon reach- deceased Christian Democratic in Wiesbaden and Berlin, in ers and rise to new positions of of 36 righteous people in each ing a hut belonging to a widow, General Secretary Peter Hintze. 2008 Beermann was appointed responsibility. ■

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wilmerhale.com Berlin, Friedrichstrasse 95: +49 30 20 22 64 00 wilmerhale.de Frankfurt/Main, Ulmenstrasse 37-39: +49 69 27 10 78 000 24 | RELIGION JEWISHJEWISH VOICE FROMF GERMANY | JULY 2017 Tzedakah Just the right thing to do

By Rabbi Walter Homolka who want to enroot their call for an uun-n- TheThe oorthodox grip on society conditional basic income in some aallegedlleged comescomes along with the denial ith the upcoming elections, Jewish traditions. In fact, the veryry idea of govgovernmente aid to Reform social justice has become a big of an unconditional basic incomee ccon-on- andand ConservativeCo institutions W issue in Germany. Media, poli- tradicts the Jewish tradition whichch vaval-l- in Israel.Isra “This causes harm ticians, and church leaders alike embed ues labor. In Genesis, it reads: “Godod totookok notnot ononly to equality, but also this cause in Judeo-Christian values and the man, and put him into the GaGardenrden to frefreedome of religion and traditions, and time and again I am asked of Eden to dress it and to keep it.”” In LeLe-- ceremony,”ceremo explains Shimon to explain the Jewish concept of tzeda- viticus, we are reminded that the cornerscorners Shetreet,Shetre a former Minister kah, a term derived from tzedek, “jus- of the fi elds are designated for thee ppoor,oor, of RReligiouseli Aff airs in the Is- tice.” Although related to charity, raeliraeli government.g “Further- the meaning of tzedakah is broad- more,more, budgetary allocation er than the defi nition of charity: to RReformef and Conservative While the latter suggests benev- projectsprojec is minuscule, and it olence and generosity, tzedakah “On three things thehe is ddiiffi cult to sustain without implies fairness, justice, and righ- “ bubudgetsdge to construct houses teousness, and it is a performance world stands: On justice,stice, of wworshipor and furnish salaries of a duty. foforr rarabbisb and cantors.”

Jewish teaching ties the Bibli- truth, and peace.” JVG IsIsn’tn’t iit absurd that the exclu- cal injunction “You shall keep My sisiveve rrecognitionecogni granted to the Or- laws, and My rules, by the pursuit (M. Avot 1:18) ththodoxodox rrabbinateabbina in Israel on matters of of which human beings shall live” rereligionligion favorfavorss a group which reverses (Lev. 18:5) to the Talmudic obser- ththehe concept of tzedakah as the way to vation that the use of law should lead to and so are grain and fi eld crops left dur- tzedakah. But how is this implementedd iin ffairness,i jujustice,stic and righteousness? In life, not to its loss (b. San. 74a). Thus the ing the harvest. The poor, however, have the state of Israel? Its insular ultra-ortho- 1948, representatives of all the popula- provisions on workers and work con- to collect the gleanings themselves. As dox minority values piety above all else tion sectors signed the Declaration of tracts, as well as those on loans, liens, the Talmud says: “Labor is highly valu- while raising large families on taxpayer- Independence, forming the national and the jubilee year (shemitta), all con- able because it brings honor to those in- funded handouts. While the men study consensus that is considered one of tain a wealth of social considerations volved in it.” [b. Ned. 49b]. Torah full-time, they depend on their the basic principles of the state. As the that indicate a tendency to ensure set- Elsewhere in the Talmud it is said: “A man wives’ wages, study stipends, and public Torah insists, “Justice, justice shall you tlements in favor of the economically who lives from the labor [of his hands] is assistance – and they show no intention pursue,” we have to make sure that the weaker party when interests collide. greater than the one who fears heaven.” to fi nd employment or to establish them- Jewish state, in the 70th year since its However, our sages did not envision a [b. Ber 8a]. Thus, helping someone to be- selves in business. Does it not worry them foundation, accommodates Jews of all rose garden, and I must disappoint those come self-suffi cient is the highest form of that they distort the concept of tzedakha? religious streams. ■

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