I’ve just returned home – to Jerusalem – from our first seminar in Berlin. It has been 12 years since I visited Berlin for the first time and much has changed. For many Jews, such as myself, who are actively engaged in our Jewish identities and our history, travel to Europe is not easy. Our approach and attitudes are different from our non-Jewish friends, neighbors and colleagues. Although this resonates for most Jews regarding a visit to countries such as Poland, Ukraine, Lithuania, etc., they would not necessarily come with the same psychological baggage on a visit to Western Europe. However, when it comes to Germany the situation appears to be different. Many American Jews remain uninterested in visiting Germany and some continue to boycott German goods till today. Conversely, Israeli Jews, for the most part, do not have any problem with going on vacation to Germany. What is the source of these completely divergent attitudes?
Like it or not, Israel as a state began to engage with Germany – or to be more precise, with West Germany – almost from the get-go. In 1952, the two countries signed an agreement known as the “Payments Agreement”. West Germany agreed to pay Israel (and separately, a different amount to the World Jewish Congress) the sum of 3 Billion Marks over the course of the next 14 years. Much of the payment was delivered in the form of goods, and advanced means of industrial production. Although the negotiations and the subsequent agreement that emerged were controversial in Israel at the time, there is no doubt that this had a tremendously positive impact on the Israeli economy. Between 1948 and 1960 Israel tripled its population. Since the Israeli government was oriented in a Socialist/Democratic mode, it behooved them to provide the new immigrants with housing and employment. The Payments agreement enabled the government to make it happen. As a result of the agreement, the Israeli economy was flooded with German-made goods. It was quite common for foreign visitors to find themselves riding in a Mercedes-Benz taxi or bus. In short, the Israelis did not boycott German products for obvious reasons.
In addition to the Payments Agreement, the West German government (and unified Germany since 1989) committed itself to a special relationship with Israel. In recent years the most significant expression of that policy has been Germany’s gift of 6 of the most sophisticated diesel-powered submarines in the world to Israel. It is an open secret that the subs have the capability of launching nuclear weapons. In short, Germany has provided Israel with a strategic platform, enabling the latter to have what is known in nuclear strategic parlance as “Second Strike Capability”. This is particularly significant today, as Iran strives to attain nuclear weapons which could potentially be used against Israel.
For all of the reasons mentioned above, Israelis feel comfortable in perceiving Germany as an attractive destination for vacations. Not so for American Jews.
This long introduction provides the backdrop to my trepidations or I should say concerns with our first seminar. In contrast to the seminars planned for the summer of 2013, virtually all of the participants on our trip were Jewish and over the age of 40. It was clear to me, without having met most of the group previously that many would not be thrilled to be in Berlin.
From this early vantage-point (the participants have just arrived home this week), it appears that the seminar has been a galvanizing experience for all.
Berlin is a super modern city, the center of European art and culture, the New York of Europe. The city can stand toe to toe with Rome, Paris and London in terms of the museums, music and art venues it has to offer. Architecturally, it can beat all of the above, hands-down. However, there is another layer to Berlin; one that concerned the participants before embarking upon the trip. What were the Germans’ attitudes toward their not-too-distant past? How did post WWII Germany grapple with its very dark history?
What we discovered was a city full of monuments, memorials and museums dedicated to understanding how the holocaust could come about and to commemorating the victims of the Nazi regime. Some of the memorials are personal, individual and sit in the midst of the neighborhoods where Jewish life flourished before 1933. Others are collective and powerful – such as the Monument to the Murdered Jews of Europe.
In the course of our seminar, we did not come to conclusions about where modern Germany is today just from the monuments. We met with various people who enabled us to paint a more nuanced picture. These included a senior member of the German Parliament – Hans-Ulrich Klose, a representative of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the director of education at the Wannsee Museum and the local director of an organization who purpose is to seek reconciliation between Germans and the victims of the Nazi regime. We also met with several representatives of the Jewish community in Germany, including Reform and Orthodox rabbis and lay people.
Altogether, the impression we received is that Germany – on a state-level – is committed to preserving the memory of its past, educating its population about the holocaust and tolerance and engaging the Jewish people in general and Israel in particular. What remains unclear is how engaged and interested the average German is in learning about his/her country’s past. On the grass-roots level aside from internalizing democratic values, it is difficult to assess what the German people feel and think about Jews and the Holocaust.