The Berlin Jewish Museum’s exhibition ‘Jew in the Box’ ended on Sunday after running for nearly six months. The controversial exhibition was meant to educate German Christians and Muslims to understand “what it means to be Jewish”. According to the Museum management, though the Jewish communities have lived in Germany for centuries – the great majority of Germans are ignorant about Jewish religion, culture and history. The management has claimed the ‘Jew in the Box’ became one of the most popular exhibitions ever, with more than 53,000 visitors.
The exhibition featured a real Jewish person sitting in an open box, ready to answer any question about Judaism, Holocaust and the Jews. US-born Jewish journalist Miriam Widman was one the ‘Jew in the Box’. Her story was published in the pro-Israel German daily ‘Spiegel International‘ on September 3, 2013.
Miriam, who has lived in Germany for over 20 years, believes that even though there are more than 200,000 Jews living in Germany (popl. 82 million) and influx of Israelis to Berlin, most Germans have never met a Jew in person.
“I don’t blame Germans for their ignorance. Despite all the hype about the rebirth of Jewish communities in Germany and the influx of Israelis to Berlin, Germany is a country that is home to a miniscule population of Jews,” says Miriam.
It’s hard to believe how Germans could be so ignorant of Jewish history in the country when they’re reminded it by more than eight Holocaust museums and memorials? Berlin has the largest Holocaust Museum in the country. German Chancellor Angela Markel, is world’s best known head of state in Israel. She has never missed annual Holocaust memorial service and several times travelled all the way to Jerusalem to pay her homage to Zionist masters. German president Joachim Gauck, an ex.priest, is currently in France visiting Nazi labour camps.
I bet French Jewish historian, Dr. Roger Dommergue Polacco de Menasce, would be mad hell over Gauck’s aliya. He says Holocaust memory has been reduced to cover Israel’s neoNazi policies.
Stephan Kramer, the general secretary of the Central Council of Jews in Germany was one of the prominent opponents of the exhibition. He claimed that it reminded him of the glass box that housed Adolf Eichmann during his military trial in 1961 in Israel. Eichmann, a Zionist collaborator, who as senior advisor to Adolf Hitler, helped European Jews to migrate to the British occupied Palestine. Israeli court sentenced him to death for killing Jews.
“I’m glad the Jewish Museum in Berlin put on this exhibit. Given Germany’s history, I think it’s important for Germans to know the basics about Judaism. If there aren’t many Jews around, meeting one in a box in a museum is better than not having any contact at all,” says Miriam.
German foreign minister Guido Westerwelle who has defended Israel’s interest at every international forums – recently stated that American attack on Syria would be bad for Israel. Last year he warned Netanyahu that Germany will not support Israel if she attacked Iran unilaterally. However, he supports Israel’s right to exist and has said that the West shouldn’t allow Iran to own a nuclear weapon.
Haim Saban, the US-Israeli Jewish billionaire owns Germany’s mainstream media. Haim defines himself: “I’m a one-issue guy and my issue is Israel“. Saban is close friend of Ariel Sharon, Bill Clinton and Angela Markel. He practically owns Brookings Institute, WINEP and over dozen other so-called “unbiased” think tanks. In September 2012, Saban explained in the Time magazine that Mitt Romney’s unclear foreign policy simply doesn’t stand up to Obama’s firm support for Israel and that’s why he is endorsing and contributing ($1 million) to the Obama campaign.
Berlin?s ?Jew in the Box?: An Israeli PR | Rehmat's World
The exhibition featured a real Jewish person sitting in an open box, ready to answer any question about Judaism, Holocaust and the Jews. US-born Jewish journalist Miriam Widman was one the ‘Jew in the Box’. Her story was published in the pro-Israel German daily ‘Spiegel International‘ on September 3, 2013.
Miriam, who has lived in Germany for over 20 years, believes that even though there are more than 200,000 Jews living in Germany (popl. 82 million) and influx of Israelis to Berlin, most Germans have never met a Jew in person.
“I don’t blame Germans for their ignorance. Despite all the hype about the rebirth of Jewish communities in Germany and the influx of Israelis to Berlin, Germany is a country that is home to a miniscule population of Jews,” says Miriam.
It’s hard to believe how Germans could be so ignorant of Jewish history in the country when they’re reminded it by more than eight Holocaust museums and memorials? Berlin has the largest Holocaust Museum in the country. German Chancellor Angela Markel, is world’s best known head of state in Israel. She has never missed annual Holocaust memorial service and several times travelled all the way to Jerusalem to pay her homage to Zionist masters. German president Joachim Gauck, an ex.priest, is currently in France visiting Nazi labour camps.
I bet French Jewish historian, Dr. Roger Dommergue Polacco de Menasce, would be mad hell over Gauck’s aliya. He says Holocaust memory has been reduced to cover Israel’s neoNazi policies.
Stephan Kramer, the general secretary of the Central Council of Jews in Germany was one of the prominent opponents of the exhibition. He claimed that it reminded him of the glass box that housed Adolf Eichmann during his military trial in 1961 in Israel. Eichmann, a Zionist collaborator, who as senior advisor to Adolf Hitler, helped European Jews to migrate to the British occupied Palestine. Israeli court sentenced him to death for killing Jews.
“I’m glad the Jewish Museum in Berlin put on this exhibit. Given Germany’s history, I think it’s important for Germans to know the basics about Judaism. If there aren’t many Jews around, meeting one in a box in a museum is better than not having any contact at all,” says Miriam.
German foreign minister Guido Westerwelle who has defended Israel’s interest at every international forums – recently stated that American attack on Syria would be bad for Israel. Last year he warned Netanyahu that Germany will not support Israel if she attacked Iran unilaterally. However, he supports Israel’s right to exist and has said that the West shouldn’t allow Iran to own a nuclear weapon.
Haim Saban, the US-Israeli Jewish billionaire owns Germany’s mainstream media. Haim defines himself: “I’m a one-issue guy and my issue is Israel“. Saban is close friend of Ariel Sharon, Bill Clinton and Angela Markel. He practically owns Brookings Institute, WINEP and over dozen other so-called “unbiased” think tanks. In September 2012, Saban explained in the Time magazine that Mitt Romney’s unclear foreign policy simply doesn’t stand up to Obama’s firm support for Israel and that’s why he is endorsing and contributing ($1 million) to the Obama campaign.
Berlin?s ?Jew in the Box?: An Israeli PR | Rehmat's World