A newsletter on American Jewish - German relations.

1. AN AMERICAN JEWISH – GERMAN INFORMATION & OPINION
NEWSLETTER
dubowdigest@optonline.net
AMERICAN EDITION
February 6, 2011
Dear Friends:
What nerve the Egyptians have in starting their revolution just when we’re getting
ready to focus on the Super Bowl! The ups and downs in Egypt have everyone
glued to the TV and will probably hurt the ratings that the NFL and the
commercial sponsors count on. Hamburgers, beer and chips just don’t go well
with people getting beaten up by goons. Football beatings are more acceptable.
Thus far, the possible outcome in Egypt is more difficult to figure out than today’s
football orgy. By 10:00 pm (EST) we’ll have a winner in Arlington, Texas. No
such luck in Cairo.
The German government, the rest of the EU and, indeed, Pres. Obama are all
looking forward to the same result in Egypt. Mubarak has to go, a peaceful
transition of power has to take place and, most important, stability has to return
and be maintained.
In-depth reading of the media tells me that there are about two or three million
possible outcomes. My evaluation is that nobody knows anything. What will
happen will, indeed, happen and the rest of the world will then try to shift gears to
deal with it.
The major questions for the readers of this journal have to do with Israel’s future
and how Germany and Europe react to the new events, power structures, etc.
Political upheaval is always a problem whether it is called for or not. Those that
figure it out first will be on the cutting edge of the new reality. Those that do not
or cannot move forward will wind up behind the curve. Let’s hope that Israel, the
U.S. and the rest of the Western World are in the former boat.
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2. With that piece of wisdom, let’s get on with the other news…
IN THIS EDITION
THE MERKEL VISIT – The Chancellor & Cabinet visit Israel
MASS GRAVES IDENTIFICATION PROJECT – An important Holocaust project
THE WOMEN – Female power in German government
INTERNATIONAL HOLOCAUST REMEMBRANCE DAY – When, where, who.
OBERMAYER GERMAN JEWISH HISTORY AWARDS – They become a regular
part of Holocaust remembrance
AN “INDUSTRIAL” HOLOCAUST MEMORIAL – The makers of the ovens
EDWARD SEROTTA – His Centropa is making its mark regarding Eastern
European Jewry
EDITOR”S NOTES – Errors rectified.
THE MERKEL VISIT
Chancellor Merkel visited Israel with members of her cabinet in the third annual
such meeting. Israel is the only country outside Europe with which Germany
holds joint cabinet sessions, although it does so regularly with France.
These cabinet “get-togethers” are a visible sign of the closeness of the two
countries even though differences remain between them especially on Middle
East issues. The Chancellor’s visit came at a particularly difficult time – just as
the demonstrations in Egypt had broken out. According to D-W World, “(she)
appealed to Israel to take constructive steps toward reinvigorating the Middle
East peace process.
Afterwards, both sides said the talks were held in a very “businesslike manner”
with Netanyahu outlining how he sees the next steps in the peace process.
Merkel urged Israel to halt its settlement policies in the West Bank, saying these
were a serious problem for a peaceful resolution of the conflict.
Both leaders agreed that the current situation in Egypt and other parts of the
Arab world was “very difficult” and a concern for Israel. Netanyahu said Israel
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3. was watching the situation with "vigilance" and "worry" and that he feared Egypt
could wind up with a radical Islamic regime, like Iran.
Cabinet ministers from both sides also signed a variety of bilateral agreements to
boost cooperation in the fields of research, environment, climate protection,
energy, development aid and education.
In a private meeting before the session, Netanyahu and Merkel reportedly spent
much of the time discussing the current unrest in Egypt. Merkel also called on
Israel to stop building in West Bank settlements, saying it was hurting the peace
process, Haaretz reported.
Meeting with Peres
Chancellor Merkel also met with Pres. Peres. The President wisely reminded her
that, (Y-Net News) "the world must learn from what happened in Gaza.
Democracy begins with elections – but does not end with elections. Democracy
is a civilization, and if you choose the wrong side you bring about the end of
democracy. We must ensure that human rights are guaranteed in a real
democracy."
Peres reminded Merkel that Hamas took over Gaza following democratic
elections. "The world saw what happened in Gaza when they pushed for
democratic elections and a radical and dangerous movement, which won't give
the Gazans one day of democracy, rose to power.
Merkel said she agreed with Peres' remarks on the Iranian threat, saying that this
was a problem which threatened the entire world and not just Israel.
"Israel's security is a global matter, not a bilateral matter," she said, adding that
"in light of the recent events, it's time to speed up the peace process."
She clarified that the Palestinian Authority's leadership was strong. "I believe I
have arrived in Israel at a very important time. Time is essential to guarantee that
Israel remains an independent state within its borders. The concept of two states
for two people cannot remain a statement – it must be seen on the ground."
Meeting with Livni
The Chancellor also met with Israeli opposition leader Tzipi Livni. Haaretz
reported, “According to a member of Merkel's entourage, Livni voiced fears to the
German chancellor that Iran may exploit the current instability in the region,
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4. reiterating the oft-repeated Israeli calls for tougher sanctions over Tehran's
nuclear program.
Many Israelis share Livni's fear that a weaker Egypt could mean greater Iranian
influence in the region.
In their meeting, Livni and Merkel also discussed Israel's stalled peace process
with the Palestinians. Livni was quoted saying that negotiations were in Israel's
national interest and not a favor to the Palestinians or Europeans.
SO?
One might be inclined to think that nothing much happened during the two day
discussions. Maybe one might be correct. However, just the fact there were
these meetings and the Israelis were able to voice their point of view on Egypt
and Iran to the leader of the EU (She is that!) has to be of some importance.
In addition, the Israeli cabinet heard a re-statement of the European Union’s
Middle East stance – stop building settlements, get back to the negotiating table
with the Palestinians and make some sort of peace agreement. What Europe
needs is stability and the current situation is not helping.
My assumption is that the members and leaders of both delegations are smart,
knowledgeable people. They all know now that the Israel – Palestinian situation
is not the major cause of instability. If it ever was, it is not that any longer. The
Egyptian situation and the one in Tunisia change everything mostly not in Israel’s
favor. So, whatever was said between them must have an Egyptian asterisk
attached to it. Today’s reality, in all likelihood, will not be tomorrow’s.
An immediate question facing Germany and the EU is the upgrading of their
diplomatic relations with the Palestinians as Ireland has already done. Will
Germany follow?
It will take some time for the implications of the tumult in the Arab world to be
figured out. Israel will need the friendship of the EU nations as the drama
unfolds. When that happens the test of Germany’s oft-stated friendship will be
given a real test. I’m sure we’ll all be tuned in to see how it turns out.
(This article as is will also appear in the Germany Edition of DD)
MASS GRAVES IDENTIFICATION PROJECT
During World War II the German military and the SS killed many Jews (and
others) by shooting them and then dumping their corpses into unmarked mass
graves.
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5. According to JTA, “A project to save Holocaust-era mass graves from oblivion in
Eastern Europe has received about $400,000 from the German Foreign Ministry.
Thousands of sites of mass shootings, in fields and forests across the region,
have been neglected and the stories of what happened there nearly forgotten,
Andrew Baker, Director of International Jewish Affairs for the American Jewish
Committee, said Jan. 21 in Berlin, marking the first anniversary of the project.
The project is coordinated by the AJC, the Central Council of Jews in Germany
and the German War Graves Commission.
The stories must be preserved and told to the next generation, sites themselves
must be marked, and the record must be corrected where Soviet ideology erased
the fact that victims were Jews, Baker said.
The funds will enable further documentation of sites and collection of
testimonies. Preservation work will require further funds, he added.
A team coordinated by the AJC's Berlin office, under the direction of Deidre
Berger, surveyed several sites in 2010. Among them was Kysylyn, where about
500 Jews were shot to death in a field 68 years ago.
The project was inspired by the work of the French Catholic Priest Patrick
Desbois, who since 2001 has visited sites of mass shootings of Jews in Ukraine
and collected eyewitness testimonies.
Few people are left who could point the way to such sites, William Mengebier of
Yahad-in-Unum, Desbois' Paris-based organization, said during the news
conference in Berlin on Jan 21.
He described interviews with elderly Ukrainians who may not recall dates of
killings, but who offer to take researchers by the hand to the sites themselves.
Others participating on the missions include Rabbi Joe Shik of the London-based
Conference of European Rabbis, and its cemetery project, Lo Tishkach; the
Committee for the Preservation of Jewish Cemeteries in Europe; and the
Ukrainian Center for Holocaust Studies.
More than one million Jews were murdered by mass killing units during World
War II; in all, about six million Jews were killed by shootings, gassings in death
camps, and through slave labor.
The major actors in getting Fr. Desbois’ project the recognition it deserves are
my AJC Berlin colleagues Deidre Berger and Jan Fahlbusch. They brought Fr.
Desbois to Berlin a couple of years ago for meetings with government officials. I
happened to be there at that time and sat next to him at dinner. You rarely find
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6. such a man these days. Dedicated, religious with a firm understanding of the
responsibility the world has to those murdered in the Holocaust whose lives are
forgotten and whose deaths are unmarked.
One must also credit today’s German Foreign Office for understanding the
importance of the project and their willingness to commit $400,000 to it.
This Holocaust project has more to it than just recognizing those who were
murdered and who deserve a memorial. It is a reaffirmation of the event itself, the
denial of which is a main tool utilized not only by deniers but those trying to
delegitimize Israel.
Congratulations to all involved!
THE WOMEN
It’s no secret that women have become more important in German politics. After
all, the Chancellor is a woman. What is not so apparent is that the ladies have
become much more “front and center’ in the various States as well.
Spiegel-Online reports, “As well as a woman chancellor, Germany will soon have
a third female state governor, and two other women are also in the running for
regional power this year. Is the country shedding its male-dominated political
culture, and are women better suited to the new political challenges?
When Angela Merkel took over as German chancellor in 2005, she may have
been the first female head of the federal government, but all 16 of the country's
powerful state governors were men.
That male face of regional power in Germany, however, has been slowly
changing. First the eastern state of Thuringia and then North Rhine-Westphalia
in the west have since seen women take the helm. And now a third woman is
soon to take the reigns of state power. This weekend, Annegret Kramp-
Karrenbauer, a member of Merkel's Christian Democratic Union (CDU) party,
was named as successor to Peter Müller, governor of western state of Saarland.
Kramp-Karrenbauer, a 48-year-old mother of three, belongs to a new generation
of conservative women politicians who have managed to pursue successful
careers while having children, something not always taken for granted in what
can still be a very traditionalist country. Another example is the popular Labor
Minister Ursula von der Leyen, a mother of seven.
It is a conundrum in Germany that while women are not well represented at all in
the higher echelons of business, they do surprisingly well in politics, ranking 18th
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7. in the world for female participation in the national parliament, with just over 32
percent of representatives in the Bundestag being women. In comparison, none
of the 100 top German companies has a female CEO, and only 2.2 percent of
the members of their executive boards are women.
Other women could soon be joining the ranks of state governors. In Berlin,
Renate Künast, the Green Party floor leader in the Bundestag, is seen as a
serious challenger to incumbent Klaus Wowereit of the SPD in the state election
there this coming September. Meanwhile, the CDU's Julia Klöckner could give
the SPD governor of Rhineland-Palatinate, Kurt Beck, a run for his money in a
state election in March.
Whatever their path to power, there is little doubt that the increasing number of
women in German politics is shaping the country's political culture. There is less
of the macho politics of old and more of a consensual approach.
I think there is much truth in the last point. While they are more consensual (I
believe it!) they can be tough when political muscularity is called for. The two
female politicians I follow the most closely, Chancellor Merkel and my wife, the
Mayor of South Nyack, NY both exhibit that when necessary. It makes for much
better government.
INTERNATIONAL HOLOCAUST REMEMBRANCE DAY
According to Haaretz, International Holocaust Remembrance Day was observed
worldwide Thursday (January 27th) on the anniversary of the liberation of
Auschwitz death camp to commemorate the 6 million Jews annihilated by the
Nazis over 60 years ago.
In Osweicim, Poland, the presidents of Germany and Poland gathered with
Holocaust survivors at the site of Auschwitz-Birkenau Thursday for ceremonies
marking the 66th anniversary of the death camp's liberation.
The anniversary of the camp's liberation has been observed by different groups
and nationalities for some time, but it was only in November 2005 that the United
Nations General Assembly passed Resolution 60/7, deeming January 27 an
international day of remembrance.
Before the commencement of the ceremonies Thursday, German President
Christian Wulff said that each generation must grapple anew with the questions
of how civilization broke down in the Nazi era and work to prevent such crimes
from ever being repeated.
Other commemorative events were held at sites formerly devoted to the
extermination of Jews and other minorities, including the Buchenwald
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8. concentration camp, where elderly survivors gathered as well as at a new
memorial in the former factory of the company that made the crematoria ovens
for the death camp at Auschwitz-Birkenau.
In Berlin, the German parliament convened Thursday for a special session
commemorating the victims of the Holocaust. Parliamentary President Norbert
Lammert reminded lawmakers it is the duty of later generations to keep the
memory of those murdered by the Nazis alive.
"To label people as 'unworthy' and order their 'destruction' and, finally, to
systematically murder millions in an industrialized fashion - that is unique in
human history," Lammert said. "The memory of those events and aberrations
obliges us to respect all people equally ... and to confront violations of human
rights in Germany and everywhere else in the world."
For the first time, a survivor representing Sinti and Roma (Gypsies) addressed
the body, reminding lawmakers of what he called the forgotten Holocaust against
500,000 of his people. Political prisoners, gays and lesbians and Jehovah's
witnesses were also killed en mass by the Nazis, along with nearly six million
Jews.
It seems to me that Pres. Wulff’s commitment to sensitive Jewish concerns is
outstanding. Whenever there is an occasion for the “moral voice” of Germany to
be heard Pres. Wulff is there with the absolutely correct and thoughtful words.
Bundestag President Norbert Lammert is not far behind.
You may think I’m insensitive and uncaring but I felt that having a Sinta & Roma
speaker at the Bundestag event as the major speaker was somehow the wrong
note to hit. No doubt! Five hundred thousand Roma & Sinta perished along with
the six million Jews. No doubt! They are entitled to recognition and sympathy for
the continuing discrimination against them. However, the murder of the Jews and
all that went before it from 1933 on puts the six million in a very different
category. I don’t want to diminish a half million deaths but the entire Nazi killing
establishment was primarily focused on the Jews. Sinta & Roma, homosexuals,
communists, etc. were secondary. Not less important but clearly secondary.
I don’t want to make too much out of it, but the relativizing of the centrality of the
Jewish deaths in the Holocaust is what the Holocaust deniers are guilty of. And,
the relitivization of the Holocaust makes the case for Israel as a Jewish state
weaker. In these days when the delegitimization of Israel is an important
movement that must be dealt with, anything that even slightly moves the most
direct relationship between Jews and the Holocaust should at least be noted.
Now, I’m not accusing the Bundestag or the German government of insensitivity.
Perhaps they did not understand the problem. However, someone should point it
out. I elected myself.
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9. If you disagree with me I’m sure I’ll hear from you. In fact you can write me
directly. Click here for a direct e-mail. dubowwdigest@optonline.net
OBERMAYER GERMAN JEWISH HISTORY AWARDS
For about the last decade Arthur Obermayer of Boston whose wife and brother
both served on the AJC Board of Governors, gives awards for outstanding
contributions for outstanding work in helping German Jewish history survive.
JTA reports. “The Obermayer awards recognize Germans who preserve local
Jewish history and build contacts with Jews who fled during the Nazi years.
Arthur Obermayer, an American Jewish businessman who was inspired by his
contacts with historians in his family's ancestral town of Creglingen, created the
awards.
Awardee Brigitta Stammer helped raise funds to bring a tiny, 19th century
synagogue from the village of Bodenfelde to her home city of Goettingen, in
Lower Saxony, where it is now being used by a Jewish community.
“I wanted the new Jewish community to have a roof over its head, to have a
synagogue, and be integrated in the society of Gottingen,” Stammer said.
Filmmaker Sibylle Tiedemann, of Ulm and Berlin, was recognized for films that
explore the dark side of local memory, including the recollections of her own
mother and her former Jewish classmates.
Retired bookseller Barbara Staudacher and publisher Heinz Hogerle
documented the flight of Jews from Rexingen, in Baden-Wurttemberg, to then-
Palestine. Today the Jews of Shavei Zion in Israel have a special bond to the
next generation of Germans in Rexingen.
Journalist Peter Korner was honored for helping preserve the Jewish history of
Aschaffenburg, Bavaria, and for his role in creating a website to search local
Jewish genealogy. Teacher Michael Heitz of Eppingen, Baden-Wurttemberg,
who once faced closed doors when he asked what happened to the local Jewish
community, today inspires his own pupils to explore this history.
Arthur is one of those unusual people. A Ph. D. chemist, he has started and sold
companies and set up a foundation that does admirable things in Germany,
Israel and Russia. His idea of giving German Jewish history awards have now
become a regular part of the Holocaust remembrance commemorations that take
place in Germany every year.
Congrats to Arthur.
AN “INDUSTRIAL” HOLOCAUST MEMORIAL
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10. De Spiegel reported, “For years, the site was little more than a typical industrial
ruin -- the kind of modernist decay that became synonymous with Eastern
Europe after the collapse of communism. The crumbling buildings just outside
the city center of Erfurt were fenced off and left to the squatters who made the
complex their home.
But ever since the company which owned the plant went bankrupt in 1994,
historians have had their eyes on the location. Its history, after all, is intimately
tied with the darkest chapter of Germany's past. The factory once belonged to
Topf & Söhne, the company which supplied the Nazis with the ovens used at
Auschwitz and other death camps to cremate Holocaust victims.
… after years of planning, a memorial exhibit in the former administration
building opened its doors -- just in time for Jan. 27, Holocaust Remembrance
Day.
The exhibit describes how Topf & Söhne, which began life in 1878 as a specialist
for industrial ovens, brewing equipment and chimneys, soon became a leading
manufacturer of crematoriums. The SS first commissioned crematorium ovens
from the company in 1939 for concentration camps in Dachau, Buchenwald and
Flossenbürg.
The company also designed ventilation systems to pump poison gas out of the
gas chambers once the killing was complete -- and Topf & Söhne employees
visited Auschwitz and other camps to help install their products. Ultimately, the
company equipped Auschwitz with ovens capable of incinerating 8,000 bodies
each day.
"The company was not a place where people were tortured or murdered,"
memorial head Annegret Schüle told DPA. "Rather it is a place where people
thought and calculated how to incinerate as quickly and effectively as possible."
I continue to be amazed at the German willingness to continue to reconstruct
Holocaust venues pointing out the darkest period of their history. I am particularly
surprised since younger Germans these days feel further and further away from
this part of their national past. Of course, it is psychologically cleansing to admit
the faults of the past even if the young people of today had absolutely nothing to
do with it. It is clear that Germans are willing to face the past and that I find to be
admirable.
EDWARD SEROTTA
I hope you won’t mind but I am going to digress for a few moments away from
German-Jewish relations and touch on Jewish life in Europe. In so doing, I want
to tell you a bit about a Vienna based organization called Centropa, its important
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11. role and introduce you to its founder, Edward Serotta.
Ed Serotta is a great talent! This American world class photographer (and later
an institution builder) has undertaken the major task of familiarizing Jews and
non-Jews with the world of European Jewish life before, during and after the
Holocaust. Most of us know a great deal about Israel and American Jewry but
few, I am sure, know the inside story of what goes on in the various European
Jewish communities spread throughout the continent. Ed, quoted in Jewish Ideas
Daily noted, “We need to redress the fact that American and Israeli Jewish
teenagers go on trips to Europe and come away knowing more about Hitler,
Himmler and Goebbels than they do about Freud, Mahler and Kafka,” Serotta
said. “We need to reclaim Jewish greatness in this part of the world.”
I first got to know Ed in 1988 when I helped him get into East Berlin to
photograph East Germany’s 50th commemoration of Kristallnacht. In 1997 when
he was moving from Berlin to Vienna to set up Centropa, I rented his apartment
and lived in it during my 2 ½ years there. (He was a very good landlord).
Since 1997 Ed has built Centropa into a major cultural force. Through his own
award winning photos, those saved by families devastated by the Holocaust,
recorded interviews and films he has made Central European Jewish life “live”.
Jewish Ideas Daily has a brief story about Centropa and a 10 minute film it has
produced which you can view and listen to. You shouldn’t miss it. Click here to
see it. http://www.jidaily.com/OTk/e
In addition I want to encourage you to go into the Centropa website which
contains an enormous amount of fascinating information. Click here to be
connected. www.centropa.org
Kudos to Ed and his staff.
EDITOR”S NOTES
It gives me the “willies” to know that some of you read every word I write. When I
make a mistake many are ready to pounce and let me know I made a boo-boo.
Such was the case in the last edition when I got my Willies mixed up. In talking
about the famous bank robber Willy Sutton I referred to him as Will Horton. The
latter was a paroled prisoner in Massachusetts who committed another crime and
who George H.W. Bush used to criticize Michael Dukakis.
A second issue I want to clarify has to do with what I write – and what I do not. A
reader recently congratulated me by saying “You write very well”. I pointed out
that the vast majority of what appears in DD are quotes from various periodicals,
etc. I try very hard to put into italics what is quoted. My own commentary is in
regular script (I’m sure there is a better name for it but I do not know what it is). I
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12. appreciate the pat on the back but, most frequently; it is someone else who
deserves it, not me.
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