(Jewish Group) Celebrating 1,700 years of Jewish life in Germany
Bringing Germany's Jewish heritage closer to people can be daunting, as proven by the commemorative festival that began in 2021. Festival head Andrei Kovacs shares his impressions.DW: The commemorative year celebrating "1,700 years of Jewish life in Germany" is coming to an end - although festivities will be extended to summer 2022 because of COVID. It has been a turbulent year with the conflict in the Middle East, attacks on synagogues, increasing antisemitism and the pandemic. Were you able to celebrate at all?
We have been facing challenges ever since we began planning for the commemorative year in summer 2019. We named the commemorative year as such because we wanted to celebrate the existence of Jewish life in Germany despite increasing antisemitism nowadays, and also because of the changing history and the Shoah. This resilience needs to be celebrated together with our project partners.
Around 1,000 sponsored and independent project partners participated all over Germany. Until today, over 2,200 events have been organized. New networks and alliances have been built. This can be seen, for example, in the over 40 independent thematic sites on the 1,700 years of Jewish life in Germany, which we have included on our website. They show that federal states, media groups and institutions are participating with their own formats in this festive year. 30 cities from 13 federal states participated, including 23 Jewish communities. I see that as a success, because we managed to celebrate despite the many hurdles that were presented to us.
What were the high points according to you?
Among the many landmark events, one of the high points for me was when a senior member of a Jewish community said that for the first time in 76 years, her community had the courage to exhibit Jewish life in public, and that too, together with new, non-Jewish partners. That was a first, albeit small step. I think that needs to be established more sustainably.
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