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General Figures
Germany’s relationship to its Jewish community is of profound importance to the country’s post-war reconciliation and the continuing process of coming to terms with its Nazi past. While no amount of war reparations will compensate for the more than 6 million Jews who were murdered in the wake of the Nazi Regime’s terror, there are substantial efforts to revitalize the German-Jewish relationship so that renewed Jewish culture may once again become a vibrant part of today’s Germany. These efforts stem from both the tens of thousands of Jewish people living in the country as well as from the German people themselves. The blossoming of Jewish cultural events in Germany is a testament to the success of these efforts. Whether in literature, music, language, theater, or café culture, Jewish culture is not just for Jews – it attracts people of all faiths.
The Jewish Population The Jewish population in Germany has tripled in the past decade, but there are still only one fifth as many Jews living in Germany today as there were at the beginning of World War II. Jewish sites – historical and communal – are being rebuilt around the country through the efforts of local communities, even as the Jewish community as a whole continues to face threats from small groups of right-wing extremists. Attempts to stamp out these groups for good are based on the recognition that Anti-Semitism and intolerance are attacks not only on individuals, but on the very fabric of democracy. Germany is home to the third largest number of Jews and the fastest growing Jewish population in Europe. There are currently more than 105,000 members of the Jewish community living in Germany – although this estimate does not include the many Jews not affiliated with the country’s main Jewish organization, the Central Council of Jews. Judaism an official religion Jewish life in Germany experienced a milestone on January 27, 2003, when German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder signed the first-ever agreement with the Central Council of Jews granting Judaism the same legal status in Germany with the Roman Catholic and Lutheran churches. The agreement was signed on the 58th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz, the concentration camp in Poland where over a million Jews were murdered during the Third Reich.
The German federal government is committed to upholding and supporting Jewish cultural heritage in Germany. Chancellor Schroeder called the agreement a meaningful demonstration of trust in German democracy and an encouraging signal for religious and cultural life in Germany. The Central Council of Jews Under the agreement, the government awards the Central Council of Jews, the main umbrella organization for all Jews in Germany, more than 3 million Eur annually to help support its programs and the vast responsibility it has taken on to help integrate the tens of thousands of Jews, mainly from the former Soviet Union, who need assistance in assimilating to their new home. The Central Council of Jews is a unique organization in that it supports all Jews, regardless of whether they follow the orthodox, liberal, reform, or agnostic path. All together, the Central Council promotes the efforts of more than 83 different communities throughout Germany.
Immigrants from the former Soviet Union Almost 85,000 Russian Jews have come to Germany since the demise of the Soviet Union and have been awarded permanent residence and work rights. These people are also given the opportunity to become German citizens. More than half of them come from the cities of Moscow, Dnepropetrowsk, Odessa, Kiev, Riga and St. Petersburg. Jewish Russian immigrants receive a considerable amount of help from the Jewish communities. Most of the Russian Jews speak Russian, not Yiddish or German, and need help learning German and finding work and homes. And while some remnants of the Jewish culture survived in the Soviet Union – where religion was outlawed – Russian Jews must be reintroduced to both cultural and religious aspects of Judaism. Over 170,000 Jews have immigrated to Germany from former Soviet states
since 1990, and there are an estimated 100,000 waiting to leave their
countries for various reasons. Demographically, about an equal number
of men and women have left their homelands for the religious freedom and
life afforded in Germany, and with regard to age, the group is decidedly
older than national averages in either country. Jews with university-level
educations predominate at 68%, the largest professional group among the
immigrants are engineers, followed by teachers, doctors, farm workers,
and musicians.
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