Welcome to the Forward’s coverage of the modern nation of Germany, the successor state to Nazi Germany, which perpetrated the Holocaust during World War II.
Germany
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Fast Forward After World War II, there were 100 Jews left in Frankfurt. Today, the community has a potent voice.
BERLIN (JTA) — There were approximately 30,000 Jews in the city of Frankfurt before World War II, making it the largest community in Germany. By the time the U.S. military occupied the city in 1945, there were only about 100 left. “Jewish life was destroyed,” said Tobias Freimuller, author of the recently published “Frankfurt and…
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Fast Forward Munich bans yellow stars at coronavirus protests
BERLIN (JTA) – Germany has seen several protests in cities across the country over the government’s strict coronavirus lockdown, and at some, demonstrators have worn yellow Stars of David meant to resemble the ones that Nazis forced Jews to wear during the Holocaust. These stars often say “not vaccinated” or “vaccination will set you free,”…
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Fast Forward Rabbis can serve in German military for the first time in 90 years
The German parliament voted unanimously Thursday to allow rabbis to serve as military chaplains in the Bundeswher, Germany’s military. Rabbis have not been able to serve as chaplains in the German military since Adolf Hitler expelled them in 1933. Jewish soldiers could only use Protestant or Catholic military chaplains. The change was first put forward…
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Fast Forward Germany reports highest number of anti-Semitic crimes since 2001
BERLIN (JTA) – Germany has recorded the highest number of anti-Semitic crimes nationwide since 2001. And a new wave linked to coronavirus conspiracy theories is expected, Jewish leaders say. Police registered 2,032 anti-Semitic crimes, including two killings, in 2019, according to newly released figures published in the German news media. The total is up 13%…
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Fast Forward Germany gets tougher on Internet hate, including anti-Semitic speech
BERLIN (JTA) – Germany is cracking down on internet hate, including anti-Semitic hate speech. The Cabinet of Chancellor Angela Merkel approved a bill Wednesday that would force social media networks to report to police investigators any cases of hate speech and posts that glorify or threaten violence. They already are required to remove such posts….
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Fast Forward Germany launches investigation into police response to deadly synagogue attack
BERLIN (JTA) – A surveillance video of the Yom Kippur attack on a synagogue in Halle, Germany, has raised questions about police response and readiness, leading to an investigation by the state government there. Concerns were triggered after German news organizations examined the synagogue’s security video. The state parliament of Saxony-Anhalt announced the probe into…
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Culture Germany to honor 1700 years of Jewish culture in 2021
“German society, we have an increasing anti-Semitism here,” said Andrei Kovacs. “You can feel it as a Jew. I can feel it on my skin.” But Kovacs, a Romanian immigrant to Germany, has a plan to combat that bigotry: He’s the executive director of a government-backed effort to highlight the deep roots Jews have in…
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Culture German Activists Apologize For Stunt Using Holocaust Victims’ Ashes
A German activist art collective is apologizing for a stunt that allegedly involved the remains of Holocaust victims. On Monday, the Center for Political Beauty (ZPS) placed an oversized urn on a metal pillar close to the Reichstag in Berlin, the home of Germany’s parliament, the BBCreported. The ZPS stated that the contents of the…
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Film & TV How Leonard Cohen — and a Yom Kippur prayer — inspired a coming-of-age epic
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Opinion A year after Oct. 7, Israel has the chance to remake its future — for better or worse
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Opinion Campus protests defined the year since Oct. 7. Could they actually change U.S. policy?
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Special Report At the kibbutz hit hardest on Oct. 7, a wrenching debate over how to rebuild
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