Friday, September 9, 1977 THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS Consciousness Raising in West Germany: Young Jews Seeking to Revive Traditions MR. AND MRS. JOHN ALLEN wish all their friends and family a happy, healthy and prosperous New Year iivecta By JON FEDLER (Copyright 1977, JTA, Inc.) afrifzey ileac 'ext.1 a ail our aart cad-tame:4 Pillow Talk 8236 W. 9 Mile, Oak Park Grace and Herman Berlin 1 MR. & MRS. IR VING BERLIN wish all their family and friends a year of health and Happiness ET11-11EIL FINNIK ♦ wishes all her relatives and friends good health and a happy New Year ... ■■■■■4■■■ ***************t Best wishes to all for a happy and healthy New Year VIR. & MRS. ALEXANDER FRANK THE GOLDIVIANS Eddie, Wendy and Debbie wish their family and friends • a year of good health and happiness DAVE & LENORE SHAPIRO AND FAMILY wish all their relatives and friends a happy, healthy New Year MR. & MRS. SAM TUKEL wish all their family and friends a year of good health and happiness Wishing Everyone A Happy, Healthy & Prosperous NEW YEAR Nettie & Cookie Spoon AUBREY & LAURA BENESON AND FAMILY wish all their family and friends a year filled with health, happiness and peace JOYCE and HANK BOOKE JAIME, CABIN & KELLY wish all our friends and family a year filled of health, peace and prosperity Dur warmest and sincere wishes to all our friends and ehatives and their families for a happy, healthy and rosperous New Year b LUBA & JACK ERMA & HAROLD BRODE BONN—West Germany's 30,000 Jewish citizens look back on the year 5737 with mixed feelings. For the first time since the war's end, there were encour- aging signs of a revival in Jewish consciousness among the community's youth. However, old resent- ments were revived by a continuation of neo-Nazi ac- tivities, a tidal wave of films, books and magazines claiming to portray Hitler "objectively," and delays and light sentences in Nazi murder trials. One positive phenomenon was the publication by the mass-circulation weekly magazine, "Stern," of a 22- series report of "Jews in Germany," starting in poman times and ending with a special report on the "identity crisis" and social problems of young Jews in Germany in 1977. The series gave a vivid and detailed description of the centuries-old Jewish contribution to German cul- ture, politics and com- merce as well as the repeat- ed discrimination and per- secution against Jews culmi- nating in the Holocaust. Since "Stern" also regu- larly carries articles with a strong anti-Israel bias (e.g., a scantily-documented re- port in June alleging tor- ture in Israeli prisons and persecution of the Arabs in the occupied territories), some observers questioned its motives for publishing "Jews in Germany." But the public and Jewish com- munity response was gener- ally positive. The year's most signifi- can Jewish event was a four-day youth seminar on "The Future of Our Commu- nities," organized in the pic- turesque old city of Wuerz- burg in March by the Cen- tral Council for Jews in Ger- many, and attended by 90 participants (35 more ap- plied but could not be ac- commodated). To under- stand the gathering's impor- tance, one has to bear in mind the peculiarities of today's Jewish "commu- nity," which emerged al- most by accident from the ruins of the flourishing pre- war congregations. Today's community—if one. can call it that—is also characterized by the virtual absence of a generation in the 30 to 60 year age group. As the conference speaker noted, "It consists mainly of elderly and young people. The middle part is missing." This "real" gen- eration gap results in a spir- itual generation gap. "The older members, whose religion consists mainly of tradition and emo- tion, are unable to find a common language with the other generation, which thinks less emotionally and traditionally and has very little conscious Judaism. Having directly expe- rienced Auschwitz and Maidanek, they have a dif- ferent perception of Judaism from a generation which has only heard of these things," he added. The youth seminar spot- lighted the existence of this awakening generation, which sees its future in Ger- many despite the past, and, while anxious to avoid creat- ing new ghettoes, wishes to carve out a Jewish cultural infrastructure appropriate to its own peculiar circum- stances. Participants decided to limit their decisions, but there was agreement on such steps as the creation of a uniform syllabus and teaching methods for reli- gious instruction, the need to set up more religious. study- groups, and the desir- ability of more contact at regional level between neighboring communities. The Central Council for Jews in Germany is encour- aged by the fact that there is once again the basis for an active Jewish in- telligentsia. There are now 40 Jewish lecturers and pro- fessors at German univer- sities, 1,000 German-Jewish and Israeli students at these institutions and sever- al hundred German-Jewish students currently studying in Israel, says Alexander Ginsburg, secretary general of the Central Council. Speeding up this process will ,be the creation — planned provisionally for 1978—of the country's first post-war department of Jew- ish studies at the renowned Heidelberg University. Ironically, the revival of Jewish consciousness is (at least partly) attributable to a resurgence of anti-Semi- tic activity. Hardly a week passes without swastika paintings, distribution of publications glorifying Naz- ism, or the holding of neo- Nazi meetings. Opinions vary on their significance.. A recent government re- port claimed neo-Nazis were a small minority (about 600 people) with no public support and con- stituting "no danger to pub- lic authority." Similarly, Ginsburg argues that "the population has a stable rela- tionship to democracy and regards living together with Jews as something nor- mal." However, Heinz Galinski, chairman of the Berlin Jew- ish community, argues that extreme groups typically compensate for their small numbers by a "very high degree of activity," and that neo-Nazism is actually spreading. Jewish leaders are also concerned about increasing bombing and assassination attempts by left-wing ex- tremists, since (a , these groups often have links to Arab terrorists and (b) their activities could mus- ter public support for ex- treme right-wing groups should existing "law and order" measures appear in- effective. In May, the maga- zine, "Spiegel" disclosed left-wing terrorists' plans to kill two German Jewish leaders. This past year, Jewish leaders again condemned light sentences served on convicted Nazi murderers and continuing delays in the Maidenek trial, where 14 ac- cused are charged with complicity in the murders of 250,000, mainly Jewish, concentration camp in- mates. Thanks to an educa- tion system in which his- tory is either not taught at all, or ends before the Third Reich era, the public remains largely indifferent. MR. AND MRS. ALAN NATHAN AND FAMILY MRS. SYLVIA NATHAN Birmingham wish their many friends and relatives a peaceful and happy New Year - wishes all her friends and relatives a happy, healthy New Year HELEN & MORRIS GREENBERG 17285 Lee, Southfield wish all their relatives and friends a happy and healthy New Year Best wishes for a happy and healthy New Year to all our relatives and friends Mr. and Mrs. David Herczeg Oak Park Rabbi and Mrs. Jacob Hoberman of Bene Brak, Israel wish their relatives and friends a most happy, healthful and prosperous New Year with the fervent hope that World Peace will prevail in the New Year THE ISAACS LOU, ETHEL AND BILL SOUTHFIELD extend best wishes for a happy, healthy New Year to all their relatives and friends MR. & MRS. NEWTON LEVIN Southfield wish all their friends and relatives a happy and healthy New Year 41 To All Our Relatives and Friends A Happy and Healthy New Year MR. AND MRS. HERBERT MARGOLIS AND FAMILY 14325 Oak Park, Blvd., Oak Park Mr. & Mrs. Morris H. Fishman 22564 Sutton Ct., Southfield wish all their relatives and friends a happy, healthy New Year , , BEN and FANNIE KAPETON AND FAMILY wish all their family and friends a year filled with health and happiness and peace KATHY & JEFFREY SCHULTZ W. Bloomfield wish all their friends and family a happy and healthy New Year "