German Reichstag building in Berlin (Click to enlarge)
The photo above was used to illustrate a news article about Jews leaving Israel and coming to Germany to live. The photo below was taken in 2002 when I visited Berlin.
My 2002 photo of Reichstag building in Berlin
The headline of the article is
German Jews Start Campaign Flaunting European Life and Calling for Israelis to Return
There were, at most, 585,000 Jews in Nazi Germany. Only a few managed to escape the Holocaust and wound up in the new Jewish state of Israel in 1948. Now, their descendants in Israeli want to “return” to Germany, their homeland.
I previously blogged about the German Jews who were killed in the Holocaust at https://furtherglory.wordpress.com/2011/02/02/how-many-german-jews-were-killed-in-the-holocaust/
This quote is from the Associated Press news story, cited above:
MOSCOW, Ocotber 16 (RIA Novosti) – A new online campaign started by young German Jews has their Israeli brethren up in arms, as they have been using social media to boast about their safety and their lower cost of living in the former Nazi state, reports AP.
The protest started a few weeks ago when a 25-year-old former Israeli soldier posted a picture on Instagram of a chocolate bar receipt purchased in Berlin. The price was one-third of the cost in Israel and he also bragged about his safety in the German capital. His picture went viral, spawning a Facebook page garnering over 17,000 “likes”, reports the AP.
Many of the youth involved in the campaign wish they could live in Israel, yet the fear of constant attack and extremely high living costs prevent them from moving there. One protestor said to the AP, “My aim is to educate the Israeli government. They need to make Israel a more attractive place for young people.”
However, in the 59 years since the end of World War II, Germany has changed dramatically; where once Nazi eagles flew high above and the government sought to cleanse the population of Jews and other undesirable races, Germany is now the model representative of the European community, a place diverse in its nature and the driving force of Europe.
Many Jews have left war-torn Israel for a better life in Europe, returning to their pre-war roots in search of peace, higher wages and other social benefits, such as unemployment stipends and free university education. According to the AP, there are between 3,000 and 30,000 Jews living in Berlin. “I like how people in Berlin are so non-judgmental and take me as I am,” said Levy to the AP.
My 2002 photo below shows what looks like a bike rack in front of the Reichstag building, but I was informed that these slabs of black marble in front of the Reichstag have the names of the 96 members of the Reichstag who were murdered by the Nazis; it was dedicated in September 1992.
Slabs of black marble were put up in front of the Reichstag building in Germany in 1992
When the Jews return to Germany, you can expect more Jewish art, like the black slabs shown in the photo above.
The Reichstag building on fire on Feb. 27, 1933
This quote from Wikipedia is about the Reichstag fire:
The Reichstag fire (German: Der Reichstagsbrand) was an arson attack on the Reichstag building in Berlin on 27 February 1933. Marinus van der Lubbe, a young Dutch council communist and unemployed bricklayer who had recently arrived in Germany to fulfill his dream and to engage in political activities, was caught at the scene and after admitting starting the fire was sentenced to death. The fire was used as evidence by the Nazis that the Communists were plotting against the German government and the event is seen as pivotal in the establishment of Nazi Germany.
Reconstruction of the Reichstag building was still going on in 2002
Construction was still going on in front of the Reichstag building, where new landscaping was being installed, when I visited in May 2002. The Berlin wall formerly ran behind the Reichstag which was located on the West side of the divided city of Berlin.
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