ANEW
GERMANY

AMERICAN JEWISH

ORGANIZATIONS PROMOTE
VISITS TO A COUNTRY
THEY SAY HAS ATONED.

DEBRA ISAACS
Jewish Renaissance Media

Advising Caution

Lower-level groups are also going. San Francisco's
Jewish Federation sponsored a mission to Germany
ewish leaders in the United States and in Israel this month; next month, a group of 15 graduate stu-
are encouraging an openness to what they
dents from Brandeis University will experience living
describe as a "new Germany," a place they say
in Germany for 10 days, courtesy of the German
is truly atoning for its past. At the very least,
government.
they argue, it deserves the support of the American
"The trip isn't designed to open minds, but certain
Jewish community because of its strong support of
myths do fall away once you're exposed to a living
Israel and its embrace of Jewish immigrants, who are
reality," said Brandeis Professor Eugene Sheppard,
streaming in at the rate of 10,000 per year.
one of two faculty members who will accompany the
This year marks the opening of a major Holocaust
students. "The question of
memorial in Berlin and a surge of travel to Germany
the possibility of Jewish life
Above: To honor the late
by a half-dozen American Jewish groups venturing over in Germany today is a vex-
Israeli Prime Minister
a threshold that had seemed forbidden for. decades.
ing question, and I'm not
Yitzhak Rabin, the
Many of them are clearly infused with optimism about sure what the students will
government of
the country, believing it has become a place where citi-
think: whether it's possible
Bonn
names a street
zens are openly contemptuous of racial and ethnic intol-
or necessarily a good thing
'Rabin
Street"
in 1996
erance, where Jews can make a good life for themselves
that Jews once again estab-
and even rise to the highest echelons of society. A
lish a vibrant community in
Brandeis University professor said many German scholars
Germany."
are smitten with the history of their former compatriots.
A colleague, Jonathan Sarna, chairman of the
The groups going to Germany include some of the
Waltham, Mass.-based university's Near Eastern and
most powerful in the United States. The North American
Judaic Studies Department, added that the trip also
Boards of Rabbis held its annual conference there this
isn't designed to whitewash the past "but to help
year, as did the Conference of Presidents of Major
people understand that 50 years later there's a very
American Jewish Organizations, both for the first time.
different Germany than the one they read about in
The purpose of the latter trip was to encourage the
the '30s and '40s."
German government to continue building ties with
Germany's Jewish population, eradicated in the
Israel and to approach Iran, a trade partner, with more- Holocaust, now numbers about 100,000, two-thirds
wariness in light of that country's growing intolerance
of them Russians who are taking advantage of eco-
of its Jewish population. The group also visited
nomic incentives offered by the German government
Potsdam, where vandals desecrated a Jewish cemetery,
confirms Eugene DuBow, senior adviser of the New
as a show of solidarity with Germany's Jews.
York City-based American Jewish Committee.
Conference of Presidents Executive Vice President
Immigration to Germany is restricted to ethnic
Malcolm Hoenlein said he was pleasantly surprised
Germans and Jews, who are entitled to subsidies,
at the Germany he encountered, a place where there
language training and other social benefits to get
are visible shows of contrition for the past, whether
started in their new homeland.
on TV, in school or in public memorials.
That rebuilding internally and through tourism is
United Jewish Communities, the New York City-
fine, as long as Jews remain vigilant, said Rabbi Marvin
based umbrella for North American Jewish federations,
Hier, dean and founder of the Los Angeles-based
is preparing a second mission to the country in
Simon Wiesenthal Center, an organization dedicated to _
October, anticipating that some 150 major donors will
teaching the Holocaust and fighting on behalf of vic-
jump at the opportunity to meet with German offi-
tims of racism, terrorism, genocide and anti-Semitism.
cials, connect with the world's fastest-growing Jewish
Israel is dependent on Germany as a trading part-
community and learn about the German-Israel
ner and is its only champion in the European Union.
alliance. Participants will spend a total of 10 days in
American Jews, Hier said, need to be the voice that
Berlin and Israel, meeting with German President
reminds Germany of its responsibility to world Jewry
Johannes Rau and Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon.
and to Israel "so that Germany doesn't become one

IT

of the other European countries that can turn on a
dime. The greatest thing Americans can do is make
sure that Israel remains a free, strong Jewish state."
But Hier worries about frequent right wing and
neo-Nazi incidents in Germany. And he is cynical
about Germany's attempts to memorialize the
Holocaust. The United States built a major museum
in Washington and communities throughout the
country (including the Holocaust Memorial Center
in West Bloomfield) have opened their own perma-
nent exhibits, whereas Germany's new Holocaust
memorial will be a static monument that can be
apprehended only through the eyes, he said.
"I don't doubt it'll be very impressive," Hier said, "but
that's not the way you educate a younger generation, by
taking them to a place of silence and telling them to look
at stones. What can one learn from the Washington
Monument or Lincoln Memorial? I don't think we get
the essence of their lives through the memorials."

Inside View

Having lived and worked in Stuttgart for nearly a
year, Cyril Benitah isn't quite sure what to think.
The 30-year-old engineer moved from metro Detroit
to Germany to continue working for
DaimlerChrysler, the automaker.
"On the outside, it seems to be open and friendly,
but I've got some anxiety about letting anyone know
about my background," he said.
While they were sitting in a cafe one afternoon, an
American friend who has lived in Germany for near-
ly 20 years as an army officer blurted out that hatred
for Jews is still alive and well in Germany, an unbid-
den remark that threw Benitah off balance.
Benitah is sure the man doesn't know he's Jewish,
and the comment only cemented his wariness. "That
made me stay cautious about being open," he said.
Of course, anti-Semitism is alive in Germany, a
fact that even Eugene DuBow concedes.
DuBow, senior adviser with the American Jewish
Committee, has traveled to Germany dozens of times
and lived there after establishing the AJC office in
Berlin three years ago. The AJC is the only Jewish
organization with a permanent home in Germany.
"I'm old enough to have lived through the
Holocaust and the establishment of the State of
Israel," said DuBow, 68. "I dealt with my prejudices
by meeting people, many of whom were horrified by
what went on in their country, what their parents and
grandparents had done or not done. After a while,
you find out that people are just people. Is there anti-
Semitism there? Yes, but there are good people, too."
At least one federation leader does not share the
enthusiasm of his colleagues.
Robert Aronson, chief executive officer of the
Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Detroit, said
Germany is not in the picture for future missions
because it is not considered Jewishly significant.
Berlin, he remarked, is a "city of ghosts."
"What do we have to do with Germany on a regular
basis? It's obviously more relevant to Israel because Israel
is a major trading partner with Germany," he said. "I
have no problem with Jews visiting Germany, but to
me it's not a real attractive mission city. People are inter-
ested in what's happening in South America, Cuba, the
former Soviet Union." ❑

4/20
2001

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