Berlin, Germany – Parliament Vows to Fight Anti-Semitism

Berlin, Germany – The parliament pledged to fight anti-Semitism and to encourage the revival of Jewish life in a resolution ahead of the 70th anniversary of the Nazis’ so-called Kristallnacht pogrom.

The lower house renewed its commitment to “counter with determination every form of anti-Jewish hatred and anti-Semitism.” It said that “strong and varied” Jewish life enriches Germany and Europe.

It urged the government to “continue intensively politically supporting and protecting Jewish life in Germany in all in forms,” to expand teaching in schools on Jewish life and on Israel, and to set up a group of experts that would issue a regular report on anti-Semitism.

The resolution came ahead of Sunday’s anniversary of 1938’s Kristallnacht, or the Night of Broken Glass, when synagogues and Jewish businesses across Germany were attacked in a Nazi-orchestrated campaign and many Jews were sent to concentration camps.

“With this crime, Germany robbed itself of one of its major cultural roots, since Jewish religion and Jewish culture are an integral part of German history and German society,” Hans-Peter Uhl, a lawmaker with Chancellor Angela Merkel’s conservative bloc, told lawmakers. He said the revival of Jewish life in Germany “borders on a miracle.”
However, he said that “anti-Semitism unfortunately is not a closed chapter in German history.”

Lawmakers from all five parties in parliament supported the resolution in a show of hands.