1 on Editorials are posted and archived on JN Online: ww-w.detroitjewishnews.corn Judging Germany Today A s our cover story this week points out, you can't be Jewish and not have feelings about Germans and Germany. Perhaps we can talk about Japan or Italy or China and not let emotions inter- fere with judgment. But for most of us, the deeply shared memory of the Holo- caust colors our reactions from the very first moment when we hear German spoken or look at a German car or weigh our tourism choices in Europe. Still, those emotions may be shifting a bit, as many American Jews say they are unwilling to con- tinue to blame automatically this generation of Ger- mans for the atrocity of the Shoah. At the same time, more and more of our leader- ship groups are encouraging us to discover a "new Germany," one that has examined its past and learned from it, one that actively opposes anti-Semi- tism, one that builds a memorial to the Holocaust. As we weigh whether we should believe that the change is permanent, we would do well to look at what Israel, a country built on the ashes of the Holocaust and home to many survivors, has con- cluded. As a recent report in the New York Times pointed out, Germany is now Israel's second-largest trading partner (after America\., a source of military supplies and strategic information and a consistent voice of support in the councils of the emerging European community. German youth are valued workers at Israeli kib- butzim, German tourists a continuing mainstay of Israel's resorts, even as Americans stay away in droves. For most Israelis, it seems, optimism about the "new Germany" is a viable strategy — and for r some good reasons. Officially-and individually, Germany has worked hard to confront its Nazi past and to build into its educational system an W6Re 1P56 - understanding of how wrong the Ubermensch mentality was. Unfor- tunately, the same cannot be said for Austria — witness the rise of Joerg Haider and his xenophobic Freedom Party — or Poland, many of whose citizens continue to pretend that the entire country was a victim despite the mounting evidence that, in some cases, Poles were enthusiastic activists for vicious anti-Semitism. Curiously, though, American Jews who wouldn't visit a Rhine castle routinely go schussing down the Austrian Alps. In our globalized new century, it's pretty hard to maintain a boycott of Germany anyway. The same people who wouldn't buy a DaimlerChrysler-built Mercedes Benz continue to use small German appliances in their households. In the end, it will come down to indi- vidual decisions. We can still detest Wagner and his music, or boycott Volkswagen as an ongoing symbol of Hitler's Third Reich, but American Jews may want to consider lifting the blanket of resentment directed at any- one, and anything, German. Let it be clear that we respect the feelings n't mean forgetting. of Holocaust survivors and must absolutely ensure What we need to evaluate Germany today is an that the deaths of 6 million innocent people are open mind and a cautious eye. A more open process never trivialized or watered down. Prudently build- of interaction with Germans and Germany will let ing new relationships with new generations doesn't us make our decisions on the basis of firsthand expe- mean we absolve the old of its responsibility for rience. ❑ their criminal acts. Forgiveness most certainly does- eou.sAy m46 CIOJES6 EDIT ORIAL Related coverage: page 14 Dry Bones _ r AWRICA'S TAIWAN Pots ce,„ This Is My Kosovo Hod Ha'Sharon, Israel bomb exploding in Israel is now status quo for the struggling, young nation that thought not long ago it was on the brink of true peace. What an illusion peace was — an idealistic notion that swept the nation into conceding valu- able territory, all in the name of harmony, of broth- erhood at last. Hod Ha'Sharon, the quaint city I called home for two months, is a premier example of the peace that failed to come to fruition, of the peace that tarries in the horizon, not to be seen anytime soon. A mere A Jaclyn Goldis, 17, is the daughter of Cheryl and Alex Goldis of Bloomfield Hills. She is active at Congrega- tion Beth Ahm. She left Feb. 5 for a two-month stay at Alexander Muss High School, along with 100 other U.S. students. She is now back home. day after I departed from the Ben-Gurion airport, eight citi- zens of Hod Ha'Sharon were injured by a bomb that erupted near apartment buildings direct- ly adjacent to the campus on which I studied. Peace? No, in fact, it is war over there. Nothing's declared, of course, but what else can JACLYN one call daily acts of terrorism GOLDIS aimed deliberately at innocent Special citizens with a menace that Commentary overshadows any peaceful attempts at reconciliation? I call it war, and so does the majority of the Israeli population. Each day of my two-month stay in Hod Ha- Sharon, I strolled across the cobblestone pathways facing those targeted apartments, and I distinctly heard the shouting and laughing of the inhabi- tants. I would turn right to go to the supermar- ket, left to enter the main section of town. I hold many recollections of that particular intersection, of walking with friends there. And, only a day after I left, a bomb shattered the peace I once felt in my Israeli home. Fearful Encounters Intermixed with daily lessons on Jewish and Israeli history, my teacher, David, reported to my class the violent acts committed by Islamic terrorist organiza- tions. We listened to the terrible description of the bomb in Netanya, a mere 20 minutes away, and we were horrified, but still we thought it could not hap- pen to us. We were at Mt. Herzl when gunshots Kosovo on page 28 4/20 2001 27