Chancellor
Jews in Germany: Scholz calls for openness and empathy
Chancellor Olaf Scholz speaks at the Jewish Community Day in Berlin. photo
© Joerg Carstensen/dpa
Hanukkah is as much a part of Germany as Christmas and the Sugar Festival, says the Chancellor. But he demands even more in everyday life: empathy and “education of the heart”.
Chancellor Olaf Scholz has openness and compassion for the Jews Germany demanded. “We all have the task of making the right decisions every single day: for empathy, for solidarity, for an open ear and an open heart,” said the SPD politician in the evening at the Jewish Community Day in Berlin. That is the basis of our open society.
Jewish life in Germany is a given; it is just as everyday and unspectacular as other religions. A sign of this self-evidence is that “Hanukkah belongs to Germany just like Christmas and the Sugar Festival, that synagogues belong to Germany like churches and mosques, that we in this country belong inseparably together.”
Scholz: The constitutional state takes decisive action against anti-Semitic incitement
Scholz reiterated that the constitutional state is taking decisive action against anti-Semitic agitation and that anti-Semitism is opposed to naturalization in the new citizenship law. But the self-evidence that he wants requires more than just criminal law, the police and the judiciary. Living together is more than living next to each other. What is needed is compassion without relativization.
It worries him when Jews have to organize their own solidarity rallies and ask where the sympathy is. It is important to awaken empathy. “A key is and remains education,” said Scholz. It’s about facts about the Shoah, anti-Semitism, Israel and the Middle East conflict. But it is also about conveying responsibility that arises from German history.
“We are citizens of the same country, we are neighbors, work colleagues,” said Scholz. “And it is part of the education of the heart to show sympathy when our neighbors and work colleagues are grieving and afraid.”
Anti-Semitic incidents in Germany after Hamas attack on Israel
The President of the Central Council of Jews, Josef Schuster, recalled anti-Semitic incidents in Germany following the October 7 attack on Israel by the terrorist organization Hamas. “You have announced consequences and are in the process of implementing them – we will support you until the end of this path,” said Schuster to the Chancellor.
He called on the federal government to stand by Israel at the United Nations in the future. So far she has been wavering between chairs, said the President of the Central Council. The federal government is making itself vulnerable. Scholz reiterated that Germany stands by Israel and also offers concrete help.
The Jewish Community Day has been running since Thursday and until Sunday with discussions, workshops and prayers in Berlin. According to official information, around 1,400 participants are registered. The Jewish communities in Germany number around 95,000 people.