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 Germany’s Military To Have Jewish Chaplains For First Time In A Century
BERLIN (JTA) — For the first time in a century, Germany’s military will have rabbis as chaplains. Defense Minister Dr. Ursula von der Leyen announced this week that her ministry will appoint Jewish chaplains to the Bundeswehr, based on recommendations from the Central Council of Jews in Germany, the umbrella organization that represents the approximately…
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Fast Forward This German Band Dressed As Concentration Camp Prisoners
BERLIN (JTA) — A video by the German hard rockers Rammstein shows four band members dressed as concentration camp prisoners with nooses around their necks. A yellow star is visible on one of the striped uniforms. One Jewish leader among many condemning the video called it “immoral and reprehensible.” The video was posted this week on Twitter…
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Fast Forward Non-Jewish Parents In Germany Pick Names From Hebrew Bible — But May Not Know
BERLIN (JTA) — Non-Jewish parents in Germany are picking names straight out of the Hebrew Bible for their newborns, and they might not even know it. According to the Society for the German Language, Ben was the most popular name for boys in 2018, with Hannah, Lea, Noah and Jakob also showing up on the top…
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Fast Forward German Billionaires Found To Have Nazi Ties Own Einstein Bros. Bagels
The German billionaire family that owns Einstein Bros., Krispy Kreme and other beloved quick eats chains admitted its families ties to the Nazis and plans to donate millions of dollars, the Washington Post reported. The Reimanns are majority owners of Pret a Manger and Panera Bread. A report commissioned by the family found that the…
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Fast Forward Republican Club Leader Advised Nazi Sympathizing, Anti-Muslim German Party
The newly elected president of a storied Republican club in New York City said he advised a virulently anti-Muslim and Nazi-symapathizing German party, the Daily Beast reported. Ian Walsh Reilly was elected last week to lead the Metropolitan Republican Club, which has counted Theodore Roosevelt and Michael Bloomberg as members. In a speech during the…
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Fast Forward German Theater Offers Far-Right Party Free Tickets To ‘Schindler’s List’
(JTA) — An independent movie theater in western Germany offered free tickets to a screening of the film “Schindler’s List” to members of the far-right Alternative for Germany party. The screening of the classic film, marking its 25th anniversary, is scheduled for January 27, which is International Holocaust Remembrance Day, The New York Times reported….
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Opinion What Germany’s Prison System – And Its Nazi Past – Taught Me About Ours
This story was co-published with The Marshall Project. My grandfather, a rabbi in Louisiana, served as an Army chaplain during World War II. To the day he died, he couldn’t talk to us about what he saw. The atrocities he witnessed left him deeply scarred. To my surprise, a draft memoir I’d never known about…
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Opinion How Did Ashkenazi Jews End Up With Famous Non-Jewish Last Names?
It’s a fact: Ashkenazi Jews often bear surnames also used by Christians. What, if anything, does that tell us? Surnames used by a population often contain clues about the historical, linguistic and cultural past of the group. Certain names reveal migration patterns, others provide clues about the occupations of the ancestors and some names provide…
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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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