The Federal President received the award in New York for his commitment to Jewish life. “We mustn’t tolerate anti-Semitism in Germany,” he says in his acceptance speech. He will continue to fight for this, as head of state and as a person.
Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier was awarded the Leo Baeck Medal in New York. In his acceptance speech, the German head of state said: “We must not tolerate anti-Semitism in Germany!” For this he will continue to fight, as head of state and as a person, he said according to the speech manuscript. “Only when Jews are completely at home in Germany and feel completely safe, only then is Germany completely at home.”
Steinmeier was honored by the Leo Baeck Institute for his long-term commitment to the preservation and promotion of Jewish life in Germany. The laudation was given by the President of the World Jewish Congress, Ronald Stephen Lauder. Previous winners have included Federal Chancellor Angela Merkel (CDU), former Federal Presidents Johannes Rau and Joachim Gauck, and former Federal Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer (Greens).
Steinmeier expressed his gratitude and humility for the “miracle of reconciliation” that Germany had received after the Second World War. “This miracle wasn’t a gift from heaven – it was a gift from humans!” He said.
He remembered the namesake of the award, the liberal Rabbi Leo Baeck (1873-1956), who saw little chance for Jewish life in Germany shortly after the end of the war. “So much murder, robbery and looting, so much blood and tears and graves can no longer be wiped out,” Baeck once said. Steinmeier himself always understood this bitter analysis as an obligation to help ensure that there could be new Jewish life in Germany across all abysses.
Because of his social and political commitment, Baeck has become a role model for the Jewish religious community. The Research Institute for German-Jewish History, headquartered in New York, has awarded the medal annually since 1979 to personalities who have made a special contribution to the common German-Jewish culture.