AMERICAN EDITION

February 23, 2010

Dear Friends:

Sometimes I fear that I am giving you a distorted picture of what the vast majority
of Germans think about during a normal day. Frankly, it’s not Jews or Israel.
They, like most people elsewhere, have the economy, their jobs, the lousy
weather and whether their kids will grow and be able to get a decent education or
a decent job on their minds. Jews are not at the top of the list.

However, rarely does a day go by when the media does not have some sort of a
story dealing with the subjects DuBow Digest covers. Some great sage once
said, “In Germany, Jews is news”. The German media is no different than our
own. Negative or sensational stories are usually the featured ones. It is difficult to
read anything positive except in the back pages where “human interest” stuff is
featured. Negativity reigns supreme. However, that is not to say that the German
Jewish community, the Israeli Embassy, AJC and others are not trying to combat
that sort of thing. They are! I’m proud to say that my own agency does a pretty
damn good job. However, it’s a tough slog. I hope you will understand the reality
of the situation and for that reason I decided to devote two paragraphs to it.
Sometime in the future I’ll give you more details about what’s being done.

Now, on to the news…

IN THIS EDITION

TIME TO MOVE ON – The chairperson of the Central Council of Jews in

Germany decides to call it quits in favor of someone younger.

THE NPD AND THE KIDS – The neo-Nazis get the right to distribute their poison
near the schools.

HOLOCAUST DENIER DOES HIS TIME – If you deny the Holocaust you should
keep your mouth shut or you get a sentence to spend time at “sleep away camp”.

GERMANY & THE MUSLIMS – Anti-Muslim fever sweeps Europe. Germany is

no exception.

ANTI-NAZI HUMAN CHAIN – The people of Dresden rise up against the neo-
Nazis.

A GERMAN MILITARY MONUMENT – The Bundeswehr, today’s German Army,

is not the Wehrmacht. Aren’t they entitled to memorialize their dead? My answer
is “Yes”.

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END OF A FRIENDSHIP – Political allies become competing lobbyists.

THIS & THAT – The leftovers.

TIME TO MOVE ON

Charlotte Knobloch, the 77 year old elected head of the Central Council of Jews
in Germany (Zentralrat) has announced that she will not stand for re-election in
November and is moving aside so a younger person can take her place.

Frau Knobloch, the chair of the Munich Jewish community will, in all likelihood,
be the last Zentralrat head to have been born in the time of the Holocaust. She
has served honorably in the post but with 80% of the Jewish community in
Germany having immigrated from the former Soviet Union, it has become
obvious that the time had come for her to move on.

It is not clear now nine months from the time Frau Knobloch is to leave office who
her replacement will be. Dieter Graumann, a 60 year old Israeli born Vice Chair
of the Zentralrat is seen as a possible successor but his election is not at all
assured. The Russian born majority, especially the younger people, obviously will
have a major voice in the selection.

One of the most vocal leaders of this group is none other that Sergey
Lagodinsky, who worked for AJC Berlin as Program Director for quite some time.
For his bio click here http://www.gppi.net/about/team/sergey_lagodinsky/

The Local notes, “Knobloch’s position at the top of Germany’s leading Jewish
organisation had been brought into question of late amid suggestions there was
dissatisfaction and infighting at the top of the council. Various media reported
she was under pressure from other council members not to run again for
president.

But she said in her statement that the board of directors and executive council
had expressed their “full and unconditional confidence” in her and that there had
been a “consensus” that she would see out her full term until November.

Her colleagues had recognised “with understanding and respect” that she

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wanted to make way for a generational change.

The turmoil in the ranks of German Jewry is not only caused by age differences.
The focus of younger people is not so much on the Holocaust but rather on the
problems that face the community today such economic issues and maintaining a
Jewish community that includes those that are secular as well as those who are
more religious in their orienatation. Perhaps the biggest problem is holding on to
those whose children will drift into the general German community and wind up
having no Jewish identity at all (Sound familiar?).

My guess is that the next 9 months will be full of genuine political in-fighting. The
“new” agenda of the German Jewish community will begin to emerge during the
battle that has already begun. Since the future of German Jewry depends to a
large extent on the outcome we will be following it very closely.

A more complete story from JTA can be accessed by clicking here.

http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,,5227285,00.html

THE NPD AND THE KIDS

The NPD, the largest neo-Nazi party in Germany has recently won a victory and
will now be allowed to distribute CDs outside schools with interviews and music
by party members because authorities have no legal grounds to stop them.

As The Local reports, “The Federal Department for Media Harmful to Young
Persons said the disc merely contained political opinions, daily Süddeutsche
Zeitung reported.

The department therefore found no basis on which to ban the disc, the report
quoted director Elke Monsen-Engberding as saying. The NPD is Germany's
leading far-right party. It promotes an anti-immigrant agenda and is considered
by the country's domestic intelligence agency to be a threat to the constitution.”

Obviously this sort of a ruling is very disturbing. Having the NPD distributing their
stuff is bad enough in itself. Having the right to dsitribute it outside schools to
children is, in my opinion, 100 times worse. However, the NPD is a legal party
and are careful about staying within legal boundries. So, Germany’s free speech
rules allow this sort of thing. I, am sure, like you (and them), we are all on the
horns of a dilemma. Germany’s democarcy must accord their citizens the right of
free speech – even if it is utilized by neo-Nazis.

This story reminds me a little of my Chicago days when a group of neo-Nazis

wanted to have a march in Skokie. They finally won the right in court. It made
almost everyone unhappy but the decision was correct. To have a democracy
you have to put up with such things.

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HOLOCAUST DENIER DOES HIS TIME

According to www.haaretz.com, Far-right activist Ernst Zundel will soon be

released from prison after serving his five-year sentence for denying the
Holocaust, a German prosecutor said … Mannheim prosecutor Andreas
Grossmann said Zundel, 70, will be released on March 1 after receiving credit for
time served ahead of his 2007 trial.

Zundel was deported from Canada in 2005. He was convicted in February 2007
of 14 counts of inciting hatred for years of anti-Semitic activities, including
contributing to a Web site devoted to denying the Holocaust - a crime in
Germany. Prosecutors were able to bring charges in Germany because the Web
site was accessible there. Zundel, who also has lived in Tennessee, and his
supporters had argued he was exercising his right to free speech.

I mention the Zundel case not because I think Zundel himself is so important –
he’s not! However, I think we should understand how seriously Holocaust denial
is taken in Germany. I’ve pointed out before that they just do not have the same
laws we have about free speech. Their history indicates their necessity to have
these restrictions. I’m a strong believer in the First Amendment but Germany is
not the U.S. and, therefore, I fully understand where they’re coming from.

GERMANY & THE MUSLIMS

All throughout Europe there is a growing tide of anti-Muslim and anti-immigrant

feeling. According to Der Spiegel, “A small Muslim community in a western
German town (Voelklingen) would like to build a minaret on its mosque. But the
plan has triggered passionate opposition from locals, many of whom rely on
rhetoric from the extreme right in railing against the ‘symbol of Islam's quest for
power.’… A small mosque on the banks of the Saar River there has applied for a
permit to build a small minaret on its roof -- triggering a wave of at-times
vehement protest reminiscent of the fuss surrounding the November 2009
referendum in Switzerland to ban minarets in the country.

"I am against the Islamification of our fatherland!" reads a message, posted by

"Tommy" on the Web site of the local paper Saarbrücker Zeitung. "Islam is the
greatest threat facing humanity," he adds. In a town meeting held on the subject
in late January, a number of locals came out against the minaret plan. According
to Berlin daily Die Tageszeitung, several expressed fears that Germany was
being "infiltrated" by "the Turks."

The debate in Völklingen is once again showing how quickly right-wing rhetoric
can cross over into the mainstream when it comes to debates on Islam in

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Europe. Local right-wing extremists -- two of whom are in the Völklingen city
council -- have argued that minarets are "symbols of Turkish dominance." They
point to a speech given by Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan in
February 2008 in Cologne. In it, he said that "mosques are our barracks,
minarets our bayonets, the domes our helmets and the believers are our
soldiers."

Of course, we are not without this sort of rhetoric in the U.S. and there certainly is
a great deal of nativist feeling here in our own country. However, Europe,
certainly including Germany, is much closer in miles to the Middle East and North
Africa and so we must expect that this sort of hostility, especially in a time of
severe economic distress will only grow and magnify. The most important matter
for us is, what sort of politicians does it bring to the fore and what sort of issues
other than anti-Islamism do they stoke up? Yes, I know it’s anti-Islamism and not
anti-Semitism but Jewish history tells us that in most cases when there is group
hate - “We’re next!”

ANTI-NAZI HUMAN CHAIN

According to The Local, Neo-Nazis have for years marked the bombing of
Dresden to show that Germans were the victims as well as the instigators of
brutality during World War II. The 1945 bombing, which killed 25,000 people and
destroyed most of the city, is widely considered to have been militarily
unnecessary.

This year about 10,000 anti-Nazi demonstrators formed a human chain through
Dresden Saturday afternoon to block right-wing extremists gathered to
commemorate the 65th anniversary of the allied bombing of the city. They far
outnumbered the 1,300 neo-Nazis who marched – a figure well below
expectations and well below the 6,000 who gathered last year.

Dresden Mayor Helma Orosz, who took part in the human chain, told the crowd:
“We stand against the attempt by old and young Nazis, to abuse this day of
mourning.” The memorial day was for Dresden traditionally a “quiet day of
mourning,” she said. But it had to be remembered, she said, “who had started
that accursed war.” By forming the human chain, the city had “become a fortress
against intolerance and stupidity,” she said.

Saxony Premier Stanislaw Tillich also took part in the chain. As the two ends
linked to form a ring, the bells of the old city’s churches rang.

I might disagreee with The Local’s use of the word “unnecessary”. Yes, the war
was coming to an end and it was clear that such bombing would kill many
civilians. However, Dresden was a rail and manufacturing center, both important
for the war effort. So, I will leave it up to the historians to decide whether the
bombing was necessary or not. The important point for us, now amost 65 years

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after the war ended, is that, first, there is still a “Nazi” movement in Germany and,
second, that a large number of just plain citizens are willing to come out and
participate in a massive counter demonstration. The former is disheartening, the
latter encouraging.

Incidentally, the debate among historians over the Dresden bombing continues to
this day. (Why not? We’re still arguing over our own Civil War). The NY Times
recently ran a piece that you can read by clicking here.
http://ideas.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/02/15/the-dresden-debate-wont-die/?hp

A GERMAN MILITARY MONUMENT

When traveling through Germany one must be struck by the fact that most of the
monuments one sees commemorates the bad things that have been done by
Germans in Germany;s name. Given their 20th Century history, it is not surprising
that there are few (if any) in memory of those killed in World War II.

Some years ago, while visiting a refugee camp in Macedonia with an AJC group,
we came across a Bundeswehr (Germany Army) hospital that was doing
outstanding work with many displaced persons. Back in Berlin at a press
conference I congratulated the military leaders for undertaking such a role. I was
underwhelmed by the response. No one seemed to want to join in patting them
on the back and I heard absolutely nothing from the Defense Ministry. It finally
dawned on me that the German military was a “hush-hush” operation that had
very little popularity in this overly pacifist country. I thought then (and think now)
that it is not healthy for Germans to want to sweep under the rug the
accomplishments of their military. When you should be proud you should show
your pride – and they have a lot to be proud of. Yes, of course I know the history.
No one wants a Wehrmacht. But today German soldiers in Afghanistan are
shoulder to shoulder with American troops. This is the 21st Century, not the 20th.

Finally, and not without difficulty, a monument dedicated to post World War II
fallen German military personnel is planned and is being built in Berlin. Deutsche
Welle notes, “The plans for a monument for German soldiers killed in service has
been around for some time. The idea came to Defense Minister Franz-Josef
Jung during a visit to Afghanistan in 2005. There, German soldiers had erected
their own monument to their fallen comrades.

Despite criticism from members of parliament, Jung has always been adamant
that the memorial be placed near the headquarters of the Bundeswehr.

While the location and the exact meaning of the monument have led to debate,
the monument itself has been widely accepted. Munich-based architect Andreas
Meck is the architect of the memorial and presented his plan in 2007.
Construction officially began with a groundbreaking ceremony last November.”

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My feeling is that it’s about time.

END OF A FRIENDSHIP

Admittedly, this piece is mostly for people who enjoy the ups and downs of
relationships between German political leaders and, especially, those who paid
attention to German politics when Gerhard Schröder was Chancellor and
Joschka Fischer the Foreign Minister. Their time together ran from 1998 - 2005.
They both left office when Angela Merkel became Chancellor and instead of
becoming “elder statesmen”, both became well paid lobbyists. Schröder took the
leap first – only a month after leaving office. Fischer taught and wrote for a while
but, as my mother once said to me when I was lying around the house after
college doing nothing, “Everyone has to make a living”. So Fischer took the
plunge as well.

So, now the two who cooperated for seven years running Germany find that they
are on the opposing sides when it comes to which pipeline Germany should give
backing to in order to get its natural gas from Russia. The story in Deutsche
Welle has a subtitle of (no snickering now), “Who Has the Longer Pipeline?”

While it is always fun to see former political colleagues duke it out there is a
serious side to what they are involved in. It has to with from where Germany gets
its natural gas. Needless to say, that sort of decision carries with it a great deal of
political importance. In short, the Schröder pipeline would run directly from
Russia to Germany. The Fischer pipeline Nabucco, which goes via a different
route and includes Iran. I think you can see the importance of problem and the
eventual solution.

Obviously, the matter is complicated – too complicated for me to go into it all. I

would suggest that you read the Der Spiegel article. The question for us is not
which pipeline is best but, rather, what problems will arise no matter which choice
is made. Read the article by clicking here.
http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/0,1518,677853,00.html

THIS & THAT

*You will remember that the “Arbeit Macht Frei” sign at Auschwitz was stolen,
recovered cut into several pieces, and finally returned. The thieves were caught
almost immediately. However, the theft was undertaken at the behest of a
Swedish middleman allegedly working for a British Nazi-sympathizer. The
middleman has been arrested. I imagine Interpol is now working to arrest the
British underwriter of the whole scheme. Stay tuned! More to come!

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*Germany's only Jewish Film Festival is in danger of closing down due to lack of
funding, Read about it by clicking here.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1148515.html

*California is a strange State. It now has an Austrian actor as Governor. How

about a German Prince? Well, Frederic Prinz von Anhalt, a titled German (who is
also an American citizen) may be the next guy in the door. He also happens to
be Zsa Zsa Gabor’s husband. Read all about it!
http://www.thelocal.de/society/20100204-25009.html

In the last edition I tried to point the importance of the resignation from politics by
Oskar Lafontaine. I’m not 100% sure I did a good job. Dr. Manuela Glaab, Head
of the Research Group on German Affairs at the Center for Applied Policy
Research in Munich has done a lot better job than I did. Writing in the AICGS
Advisor in an article entitled, The Left Party After Lafontaine’s Retreat From
Leadership – What Comes Next? she, indeed, outdoes me. Click here to connect
to it.
http://www.aicgs.org/analysis/c/glaab021810.aspx