15 Years of Partnership
and Advocacy
Making a Difference
THE HISTORY OF THE AJC IN GERMANY
Deidre Berger, Director of the AJC Berlin Ramer Institute,
speaks at the 10th Anniversary celebration, Berlin, March 11, 2008
The American Jewish Committee (AJC) was
tion with partner organizations and law enforce-
founded in 1906 by a distinguished group
ment agencies, AJC’s efforts helped counter the
of American Jews of German origin with the
spread of Nazi ideology in the U.S. Following the
purpose of combating anti-Semitism and other
success of the Survey Committee, AJC launched
forms of bigotry. For more than 100 years, AJC
a research division in 1944 staffed by two promi-
has promoted democracy, pluralism, and human
nent German Jewish refugees, Max Horkheimer
rights. Following the vision of its founders, AJC
and Theodore W. Adorno, who produced seminal
advocates mutual understanding among a broad
work on the nature of authoritarianism and fas-
coalition of nations, religions and ethnic groups.
cism.
AJC’s history is inextricably intertwined with
AJC never abandoned hope in the triumph of rea-
Germany, particularly the rise and fall of Nazism
son over despair. On September 10, 1944, U.S.
and the emergence of post-WWII Germany as a
forces liberated the first German city from the Na-
strong democratic partner in the heart of Europe.
zis, Aachen in western Germany. Six weeks later,
AJC in its early years maintained close contact
on October 29, 1944, AJC sponsored a moving
with German Jewish leaders, who alerted them to
ecumenical religious service on an antitank field
the spread of anti-Semitism. In the 1920s,
in Aachen, broadcast on NBC radio, expressing
AJC raised concerns with the U.S. government
the hope that the years of horror and destruction
about the anti-Jewish content of German passion
were nearing their end.
plays and their potential impact on American visitors. In 1933, AJC published the first of a three-
After World War II, AJC focused on the recon-
part series of books, The Jews in Nazi Germany,
struction of a democratic society in Germany,
a chilling account of the condition of Jews under
monitoring the situation of Jewish refugees, con-
the new regime. When the war started in 1939,
tinuing anti-Semitism, and developments toward
Editor: AJC Berlin Lawrence & Lee Ramer Institute for German-Jewish Relations
Leipziger Platz 15, 10117 Berlin, Germany
AJC spearheaded several campaigns imploring
democracy. To this end, in 1947 AJC produced
the League of Nations to provide refuge to Jews
Make Way for Youth, a film about promoting
Editorial Staff: Deidre Berger
suffering under Nazi oppression.
tolerance that the U.S. government screened in
Imprint
Research: Yoni Cohen
Germany to promote democratic values. AJC
AJC was also concerned about the spread of
also helped organize the Citizens Council for
[email protected] | www.ajcgermany.org
Nazi ideology to the U.S. In the late 1930s it cre-
Democratic Germany, a coalition of American
V.i.S.d.P.: Deidre Berger
Berlin, January 2013
ated a Survey Committee tasked with exposing
labor unions and other organizations promoting
democracy education for the German public.
© AJC Berlin Lawrence & Lee Ramer Institute for German-Jewish Relations
Nazi agitators in the U.S. and educating Americans on racial and religious goodwill. In conjunc-
for the victims of Nazism, in 1965 AJC convinced
West Germany to extend the statute of limitation
for the prosecution of Nazi war criminals.
In 1977, AJC representatives met with leaders
of the German village of Oberammergau to try to
convince them to remove anti-Jewish elements
from their renowned passion play depicting
the last days of Jesus. It was first performed in
Oberammergau in the seventeenth century and
continues to be performed every ten years to
popular acclaim. AJC interreligious leaders remain
in dialogue with play authors to promote accurate
portrayals of Jews and Jewish life.
AJC officials meet German Foreign Minister Willy Brandt April 1966
AJC also continued to monitor the threat of a
resurgence of Nazism. As early as 1947, AJC
conducted a survey of anti-Semitism in Germany
that indicated widespread prejudice. An equally
alarming trend at the time was the large number
of ex-Nazis in the West German government and
the military. In 1950, AJC released a report, The
New Threat From Germany, that warned of the
threat to democracy posed by the large number
of Nazis in the government.
Two years later, AJC conceived an ambitious program, “Operation Candle,” which sought to unify
democratic forces in Germany, create a national
conference there on human rights, sponsor visits
by German leaders to the U.S. and create an
educational program to promote an appreciation
of Judaism in Germany. Although the program
lacked sufficient support by additional organizations to be launched, AJC continued its work
undeterred. That same year, AJC President Jacob
Blaustein played a leading role in the successful
conclusion of an agreement between the Conference of Jewish Material Claims against Germany
and the West German government to provide
compensation to the state of Israel as well as to
individual Holocaust survivors.
AJC delegation visits to Germany in the late
1950s raised concerns about the lack of contemporary history in German classrooms as well
as an outbreak of anti-Semitism in 1960. AJC
warned that official German explanations attributing the incidents to juvenile delinquency were an
oversimplification. At a meeting with Chancellor
Konrad Adenauer in June 1960, Jacob Blaustein
reiterated concerns about a resurgence of neoNazism and anti-Semitism, urging the German
government to enact a strong system of democratic education. Beginning in the fall of 1960,
through 1971, AJC sponsored numerous visits by
leading West German educators and academics
selected by Dr. Max Horkheimer, then head of
the Institute for Social Research at the University
of Frankfurt, to the U.S. to observe American
methods for teaching democratic values. The
program was supported by the Ford Foundation,
the New World Foundation and later by the German government and German foundations. In line
with its continued dedication to obtaining justice
AJC realized early on that exchange programs
are a powerful tool in German-Jewish relations for
reconciliation and the promotion of democracy.
Accordingly, AJC launched an annual leadership
exchange program with the Konrad Adenauer
Foundation in 1980, the first of its kind. Since its
inception, the program has enabled more than
400 American Jewish participants, as well as a
similar number of German political and civic leaders, to travel to each other’s respective country
to discuss transatlantic relations, AmericanGerman-Israeli relations, and Jewish life. In 1983,
AJC and the Friedrich Ebert Foundation launched
an ongoing series of cooperative programs that
include co-sponsorship of AJC missions to the
Federal Republic of Germany and visits by Social
Democratic opinion leaders to the United States,
as well as annual transatlantic conferences.
AJC’s agenda in Germany after WWII included the
revitalization of Jewish life in the country. In 1954,
AJC Honorary President Jacob Blaustein wrote a
letter to German Jewry, published in the national
German Jewish newspaper, pledging that AJC
would do its best to help American Jewry understand the situation of their brothers in Germany,
adding that “I pray to God that from the tragedies
of the past you will draw the strength to look to
the future with hope, secure in the knowledge
that we have not forgotten you.” In addition to
contacts with the Jewish community in West Germany, an AJC mission in 1983 became the first
American Jewish group to meet with members of
the small remaining Jewish community in the German Democratic Republic in Eastern Germany. In
1983, AJC assisted the community by providing
a rabbi to conduct services. Subsequently, AJC
convinced the GDR to permit a resident rabbi in
East Berlin for the first time in 25 years.
In 2008, AJC awarded Charlotte Knobloch, then
serving as President of the Central Council of
Jews, its Sidney Lefkowitz Award for International
Jewish Renewal, in recognition of her tireless efforts to revive Jewish life in Germany after the Holocaust, donating as well Torah scrolls to ­Jewish
communities in Hamburg and Schwerin.
In 1987, AJC started working closely with the
Atlantic Bridge (Atlantic-Brücke), Germany’s
premiere transatlantic organization cofounded in
1952 by German-Jewish banker Eric Warburg.
Together, AJC and Atlantic Bridge have co-hosted conferences in the U.S., Germany and Israel
on issues of Holocaust remembrance, JewishGerman relations and German-Israeli relations.
After the fall of the Berlin Wall, AJC was the first
Jewish organization to advocate for German unification. Mindful of potential consequences, AJC
initiated a pioneering program in 1992 for emerging public leaders, co-sponsored by the Friedrich
Naumann Foundation, to promote respect for
diversity in Central and Eastern Europe. AJC also
began cooperation with the then newly founded
Heinrich Böll Foundation to raise awareness of
troubling surges of anti-Semitism, nationalism,
and historical revisionism emerging in the postCold War era. Working with an ever-growing array
of partners AJC continued to support democracy-building activities in Germany.
AJC Berlin Lawrence and Lee Ramer Institute
For German-Jewish Relations
1990 – 2013
AJC Executive Director David Harris speaks at the Bundeswehr’s Golden Cross of
Honor award ceremony where he was honored, Berlin, November 22, 2004
Based on AJC’s longstanding relationships in
Germany, in 1994 the AJC and the Federal
Armed Forces (Bundeswehr) began a unique
and ongoing dialogue. Since then, hundreds of
officers from the German armed forces, with a
high concentration of youth officers, have visited
AJC headquarters in New York and AJC Berlin’s
Ramer Institute to learn more about American
Jewry and AJC’s Germany outreach programs.
Together, AJC and the Bundeswehr have created
officer training programs in Germany and Israel
on Jewish life and Mideast affairs for officers
teaching at German military academies. AJC
representatives lecture frequently at Bundeswehr
universities and academies.
In 1998, AJC convinced the German government,
through dialogue and a public affairs campaign,
to provide pensions for concentration camp
survivors living in the Soviet Union. Also in 1998,
AJC became the first and only American Jewish
organization to establish a permanent presence in
Germany. Since AJC opened its Berlin headquarters in 1998, the AJC Berlin Lawrence and Lee
Ramer Institute for German-Jewish Relations has
become a crossroads for transatlantic dialogue in
the heart of Europe. Today, the AJC Berlin Ramer
Institute organizes conferences, seminars, meetings of experts, roundtable discussions and media
outreach. It also provides information on key developments in transatlantic relations and Mideast
affairs to political and diplomatic contacts.
The Ramer Institute has become a trusted and
influential voice in Germany through its strong
partnerships with key institutions and opinion
leaders. In addition to nurturing existing relationships, the Ramer Institute continues to foster new
partnerships in Germany.
After a century of engagement with Germany—
including a now 15-year presence in Berlin—
AJC remains committed to its partnership with
Germany as an example of the power of dialogue
and diplomacy in overcoming prejudice. AJC’s
leaders remain among the foremost partners
in the German-American-Jewish relationship,
convinced of the importance of working together to strengthen transatlantic security and to
safeguard Israel. May the spirit that imbues this
unique cooperative bond inspire all those trying to
achieve a better world where peace and dignity
reign, overcoming the base hatreds that threaten
the dignity of man.
Since establishing its presence in Berlin in 1998,
AJC has worked to deepen and expand its
cooperation with German organizations, expanding a network of partners that began long before
the office opened. A path-breaking leadership encounter program established between
AJC and the Konrad Adenauer Foundation in
1980 launched the beginning of AJC’s ongoing
exchange with German political foundations and
transatlantic foundations. Additional exchanges
and programs on defining issues in AmericanGerman-Israeli relations followed in subsequent
years with the Friedrich Ebert Foundation, the
Friedrich Naumann Foundation and the Heinrich Boell Foundation. Other important partners
include the Atlantic Bridge and, in a unique
partnership with an American Jewish organization, the German Armed Forces. The Central
Council of Jews has accompanied AJC’s work as
a valued partner and advisor to the transatlantic
voice in German-Jewish affairs. In recent years,
AJC Berlin’s Ramer Institute has worked closely
with Germany Close Up and Allianz to bring a
younger generation into the American JewishGerman dialogue.
Since its opening, AJC’s Berlin Ramer Institute has worked with a broad range of partner
organizations and experts to promote democracy,
advocate for a more secure world and foster a
deeper understanding of transatlantic affairs.
Examples of program highlights include:
Israel and Mideast Affairs: AJC Berlin’s
Ramer Institute published a 2002 academic
study on the image of Israel in the media that
challenged commonplace stereotypes and led
to a reevaluation of media coverage. The office
has sponsored numerous trips to Israel for public
opinion leaders with AJC’s Project Interchange
Institute. AJC Berlin’s Ramer Institute provides
background papers for decision-makers on current topics, such as Hezbollah activities in Europe
and sanctions against Iran’s nuclear program.
Anti-Semitism: In 2002, the AJC Berlin Ramer
Institute launched the ongoing network “Task
Force: Education on Antisemitism” for educational
experts dealing with anti-Semitism, Holocaust
education and Israel and Mideast affairs. In
2008, the office initiated the “European Forum on
Antisemitism” for European Jewish community
representatives, translating the EUMC’s “Working
Definition on Antisemitism” into 30 languages.
Jewish Continuity: AJC Berlin’s Ramer
Institute has partnered with the Central Council of
Jews on leadership programs and conferences
on Jewish security and Jewish life after the fall of
the wall. In the 2012 debate about circumcision,
the Institute published “Facts and Myths in the
Circumcision Debate,” a much-praised overview
of stereotypes and unsound assertions in the
debate that created greater understanding of the
key importance of circumcision in Jewish community life.
AJC BERLIN LAWRENCE & LEE RAMER INSTITUTE
FOR GERMAN-JEWISH RELATIONS
FIFTEEN YEARS OF TRANSATLANTIC DIALOGUE: MILESTONES
Chancellor Angela Merkel, AJC Executive Director David Harris and AJC Berlin Ramer
Institute Director Deidre Berger at the presentation of AJC’s highest honor,
the “Light unto the Nations Award,” to Chancellor Merkel at the Federal Chancellery,
Berlin, January 20, 2011
Diversity: Since 2001, AJC Berlin’s Ramer
Institute has been in continuous dialogue with
representatives of the German-Turkish ­community
and with other minority groups. The popular
“Turkish-Jewish Young Professionals Roundtable”
has provided an ongoing forum for issues of particular interest to minority groups in Germany.
Holocaust Remembrance: In 1999, during the discussion about compensation for former
Nazi slave and forced laborers, AJC Berlin’s
Ramer Institute published a widely publicized list
of current German firms with links to those who
employed slave and forced labor during the
Nazi era. The list contributed to a greater public
understanding of the universal use of slave labor
in Germany during WWII and established AJC’s
Berlin office as an important partner in Germany
for the politics of memory.
1980 – : The Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung
(KAS) / AJC Exchange Program
Now in its 33rd successful year, the KAS/AJC
Program was the first–and remains the only–annual exchange program jointly co-sponsored by
an American Jewish and a German organization.
This leadership exchange program has brought
hundreds of AJC leaders and young German
public opinion leaders to each other’s countries
to learn more about modern Germany, U.S.
politics and Jewish life. AJC’s Ramer Institute has
coordinated the program since 1998, and also organized conferences in Berlin and Jerusalem with
the Adenauer Foundation on transatlantic affairs.
1992 – : AJC-Friedrich Naumann Foundation
Cooperation on the Promotion of ­Democracy
in Central and Eastern Europe
The two organizations launched an ongoing
program that has brought together hundreds
of emerging leaders from Central and Eastern
Europe at sites in Europe and in the U.S. for
in-depth examination of issues of tolerance and
democracy. AJC Berlin worked with the Naumann Foundation to plan the May 23, 2012, 20th
anniversary symposium, “Promoting Tolerance in
Central, East and Southeast Europe: Experiences
and Prospects for the Next 20 Years,” focusing
on democracy, human rights, historical memory,
European values, nationalism, xenophobia and
anti-Semitism.
1997 – : AJC-Friedrich Ebert Foundation
Annual Conference on Transatlantic-Mideast
Issue
AJC Berlin and the Ebert Foundation launched
an annual high-profile conference series in 1997
bringing together policy makers and opinion
leaders from the U.S., Western Europe, Eastern
Europe and Israel to reflect on transatlantic security and society. AJC-Ebert cooperation includes
occasional joint events on issues of integration, diversity, right-wing extremism and antiSemitism, as well as jointly planned trips to the
U.S. for opinion leaders from Germany’s Social
Democratic Party, in order to deepen transatlantic
understanding.
AJC Alumni of the AJC—Konrad Adenauer Foundation Annual
Leadership Exchange Program visiting the German parliament on
the occasion of the 25th anniversary of the program,
Berlin, July 1, 2005
establishment of a compensation fund of $5.2
billion for the victims and their families.
Film producer Steven Spielberg, AJC National President Bruce
Ramer and AJC Berlin Ramer Institute Founding Director Eugene
DuBow at the Institute’s first anniversary, Berlin, February 7, 1999
1999 : The Future of the Future Fund
Conference
AJC Berlin, together with Against Forgetting/For
Democracy and Action Reconciliation/Service for
Peace, brought together key diplomats, industry
executives, government officials, academics, NGO
representatives and Jewish community representatives to discuss the planned education fund of
the Compensation Fund for Slave and Forced
Laborers. The conference helped define the nature of projects to be supported by the fund. AJC
Berlin subsequently coordinated a group of NGO
partners that advised the then newly founded
Foundation EVZ (Remembrance Responsibility
Future), writing recommendations that contributed
to the final guidelines of the foundation.
1999 – 2000: Publication of Names of
Companies that Used Slave Labor and
Forced Labor during the Nazi Era
On December 7, 1999, AJC’s Berlin office
released a list of hundreds of German firms that
used slave and forced labor during the Nazi
era, followed later by a list of Berlin firms. The
list sparked nationwide reporting on the issue,
heightening public awareness of the widespread
usage of slave and forced laborers during the Nazi
era, in Germany as well as in eastern Europe. On
December 17, 1999, the German government
and major German corporations announced the
2002 – : “Task Force: Education on AntiSemitism”
The Task Force was launched by AJC Berlin, together with the Fritz Bauer Institute and the Anne
Frank Youth Center in Frankfurt, as a professional
forum for experts and practitioners dealing with
anti-Semitism, Holocaust education, and Israel
and the Mideast. The network advances innovative approaches to dealing with anti-Semitism and
convenes bimonthly seminars for professional
evaluation and exchange on educational and political trends. Members have collaborated on pro­
jects that offer educational guidelines, for instance
on dealing with anti-Semitism among immigrant
youth. The “Task Force” was commended by
the Expert Commission on Anti-Semitism as an
exemplary network.
2002 – 2003: AJC-University of Frankfurt
Pilot Study on Holocaust Education
The path-breaking University of Frankfurt ­pilot
study, conducted at Frankfurt schools in
2002 – 03, identified growing gaps between the
teaching of the Holocaust and actual knowledge
of the subject by an increasingly diverse student
body. The study, initiated and supported by AJC,
recommended new approaches to reach
pupils who grow up in an era with few Holocaust
survivors and influenced ever more by the media.
A 2003 academic conference in Frankfurt focused on the findings of the study, which set new
para­meters for Holocaust education.
2001 – 2002: Study on Israel’s Image in the
Media
The release of an AJC-commissioned study, “The
Mideast Coverage of the Second Intifada in the
German Print Media, with Particular Attention
to the Image of Israel,”uncovered anti-Semitic
and anti-Israeli clichés in reports about Israel,
as well as a lack of historical contextualization.
The analysis, prepared by the Duisburg Institute
for Language and Social Research, was the first
major study to examine this subject. The analysis,
created controversy at the time of its release;
scholars later deemed it a defining study for the
ways in which it revealed underlying assumptions
and prejudices in some media coverage of the
Mideast conflict.
2003 – : Cooperation with the Central Council
of Jews in Germany (Zentralrat der Juden in
Deutschland)
In 2003, AJC leadership met for the first time with
the late Zentralrat President Paul Spiegel and the
full executive committee of the Zentralrat. Bothsides deemed the meeting a “milestone.” The
meeting built on decades of relations, documented in a 1954 letter by AJC Honorary President
Jacob Blaustein to German Jewry pledging that
AJC would do its best to draw attention to the
situation of Jews in Germany. AJC Berlin and
the Zentralrat have cooperated on numerous
projects, including OSCE work combating antiSemitism, a 2005 joint Russian-Jewish leadership
seminar, a 2010 international conference, “Jewish
Dimensions of 1989/90 and the current “Protecting Memory” pilot project to protect Holocaust
mass grave sites in the western Ukraine.
2003: Defusing Transatlantic Tensions about
the Iraq War
AJC Berlin’s Ramer Institute convened a timely
series of roundtables with journalists to examine
the impact on transatlantic relations of German
media coverage on Iraq. The meetings brought
together key journalists troubled by the growing
tensions and helped bridge transatlantic divides
on the war.
2003 – : AJC-Böll Foundation Joint
Seminars on Issues of Remembrance, AntiSemitism and Transatlantic Cooperation on
Iran and Israel
In response to a wave of European anti-Semitism,
AJC Berlin’s Ramer Institute and the Heinrich Böll
Foundation held a special high-profile series of
meetings in 2003-04 to raise public awareness
about anti-Semitism. The resulting recommendations were published in “Action against the New
Old Antisemitism.” Since then, the two organizations have hosted thought-provoking events on
issues of historical memory and shared responsibility for democracy. In 2012, AJC Berlin and the
Böll Foundation launched an ongoing European
roundtable dialogue on sanctions against the
Iranian nuclear program, with the participation of
policymakers from Berlin, Paris and London.
2003 – : German Opinion Leaders Exposure
Trips to Israel
The AJC Berlin office launched an ongoing series
of information trips to Israel for government officials, parliamentary staffers, journalists, academics and NGO representatives, in cooperation with
AJC’s Project Interchange Institute.
2003 – : Hands Across the Campus
In the fall of 2003, AJC’s Berlin office, together
with the Berlin State Institute for Education and
Media and the Berlin state government, and
with additional support from the Federal Alliance
for Civic Education, launched a three-year pilot
project adapting the AJC core values education
program used in numerous U.S. schools, Hands
Across The Campus, for German high school
students. An updated version of the popular program was issued in 2011. In the fall of 2010, AJC
and its partners, together with the Society for
Democratic Education, issued the grade-school
version, “Hands for Kids,” which the Berlin government in 2013 reprinted for all 365 public grade
schools in the city. AJC and its German education
partners also launched the highly popular annual
“Children’s Conference on Human Rights” in
2010, which more than a thousand children from
“Hands” schools have attended. Following the
2009 Israeli Cast Lead Operation in Gaza, and
in response to ongoing Palestinian terrorism, the
“Hands” team has offered special background
seminars for teachers.
2003 – : Coordination Meetings on Israel
Advocacy in Germany
AJC Berlin’s Ramer Institute launched an ongoing
series of occasional meetings bringing together
directors of organizations working to promote a
better understanding of Israel in Germany. The
meetings are chaired by AJC Berlin Director
Deidre Berger and the German-Israeli Society’s
President Reinhold Robbe, and serves as a platform for exchanging information about upcoming
events related to Israel and responding to political
developments that impact public opinion.
2004: NGO Forum Berlin
AJC and the Central Council of Jews in Germany
launched a one-day seminar, prior to the highlevel OSCE Berlin Conference on Anti-Semitism,
that defined the conference issues. These included new manifestations of anti-Semitism, such
as exaggerated criticism of Israel and extremism
in the Muslim community. The seminar concluded
with an NGO resolution signed by dozens of
organizations and individuals that contained recommendations for concerted action on the part of
the OSCE, national parliaments, NGOs and other
institutions to combat anti-Semitism. Some of the
recommendations were adopted at the subsequent OSCE Berlin conference. The seminar was
co-organized with the Amadeu-Antonio Stiftung,
the Centre for Research on Antisemitism at the
Technical University Berlin, the Heinrich Böll Foundation, and Honestly Concerned, with additional
support from the Konrad Adenauer and Friedrich
Ebert Foundations and the Academic Forum of
Social Democracy of Berlin and Brandenburg. It
established procedures for NGO participation that
has since become a standard feature of OSCE
conferences on the fight against anti-Semitism
and other forms of hatred.
2004 – 2006: Raising Public Awareness
of Iran’s anti-Israel Al-Quds Campaign in
Europe
In 2004, AJC supported an emerging coalition of
NGOs that were exposing the anti-Israel nature of
the annual Iranian Al-Quds celebration, enabling
them to convene an international conference in
Berlin in 2004. Further cooperation with the coalition led to the AJC Berlin publication, in German,
English and French, of “Anti-Semitism ‘Made in
Iran’: The International Dimensions of Als-Quds
Day,” which revealed the extent of anti-Israel
propaganda spread by Iranian government supporters throughout Europe.
2004 – : Law Enforcement Training Seminars
on Anti-Semitism, Islamic Extremism and the
Mideast Conflict
In connection with the 2004 Al Quds Campaign,
the AJC Berlin Ramer Institute and the Berlin
Police Academy organized a daylong seminar for
Berlin police commissioners on Iranian anti-Semitic propaganda. Subsequent training seminars
organized with the Berlin Police Academy and the
Community Security Trust, London, have focused
on relations with minority communities and extrem-
ism in the Islamic world. In cooperation with the
OSCE’s Office for Democratic Institutions and
Human Rights (ODIHR), AJC Berlin organized a
Polish-German-British seminar for law enforcement
professionals on February 27, 2012, entitled “Preventing and Responding to Hate Crimes: Presentation of Good Practices in Poland and Germany.”
2006 – : Turkish-Jewish Young Professionals
Roundtable
Building on a continuing dialogue established
by the AJC Berlin Ramer Institute in 2001 with
representatives of the German Turkish community, AJC Berlin started an ongoing roundtable
for young professionals from the German-Turkish
and German-Jewish communities. This popular
forum, the only one of its kind in Germany, meets
several times a year to explore issues of joint
interest, defining common ground while respecting historical and societal differences.
2006 – 2010: “The Political Salon”
AJC Berlin Director Deidre Berger and Green
Party politician Cem Ozdemir launched a salon for
writers, politicians, film directors, and other public
figures coming from immigrant backgrounds with
the aim of bringing new perspectives into German
politics. The discussion prompted some participants to publish articles on diversity in Germany.
2006: “Holocaust Denial: The Holocaust in
Transnational Memory”
AJC initiated and supported the conference, organized by the German Federal Agency for Civic
Education in cooperation with the Berlin Center
for Research on Anti-Semitism, that examined the
international ties amongst Holocaust deniers. The
conference took place on December 11, 2006,
the same day as a Holocaust denial conference
staged by the Teheran government. The event
was the first of an ongoing series of biannual
conferences on trends in Holocaust research.
2006 – 2007: NGO Integration Summit ­Berlin
In the summer of 2006, AJC Berlin’s Ramer
Institute convened more than 30 dele­gates from
NGOS representing various ethnic and religious
groups in Germany. The summit was planned
to shadow a national summit organized by the
Federal Chancellery on issues of integration and
diversity. Members of the NGO Integration Summit met for a year, producing a paper presented
to the press on May 30, 2007, entitled “For a
New ‘We” in Germany: Migrant and Minority
Organizations Take A Stand on the Migration and
Integration Debate.”
2007: “Antisemitism and Racism in European
Soccer”
Sparked by security measures taken for the
World Soccer Cup championship in Germany
in the summer of 2006, AJC Berlin was the first
to undertake a comprehensive review of the
problem of hate on European sports fields. The
brochure surveyed the dimensions of the problem
in various countries, highlighting as well emerging
initiatives to combat prejudice in sports, concluding with suggestions of measures that might bring
the matter greater public attention.
2007 – : AJC Young Leader Visits to Germany
AJC Berlin and AJC ACCESS, with support by
the German economics ministry, launched an
ongoing series of visits to Germany by emerging
AJC leaders and AJC Goldman Fellows. Since
2008, there have been multiple visits per year
in cooperation with Germany Close Up, AJC
­ACCESS and AJC Berlin.
2008 – : European Forum on Antisemitism
AJC Berlin launched an electronic forum for representatives of Jewish communities in Europe to exchange information and advice on monitoring and
combating incidents of anti-Semitism. The forum
was launched via an opening conference at the
German Parliament, with support from the Friedrich Ebert Foundation. There were representatives
from ten European countries. The most recent
conference, in August 2012, outlined mounting
challenges for European Jewish communities.
2008: Translation of the Working Definition of
Anti-Semitism into 33 Languages
In December 2008, the AJC Berlin office, in
conjunction with its European Forum on Antisemitism, made available translations in 33 languages
of the European Union Monitoring Center’s
Working Definition of Anti-Semitism. The definition
identifies certain forms of criticism of Israel as
forms of anti-Semitism.
charges, Amazon stopped selling the books
shortly after the suit was filed.
2010 – : Protecting Memory: Preserving and
Memorializing the Holocaust Mass Graves of
Eastern Europe
The AJC’S Berlin office launched “Protecting Memory: Preserving and Memorializing the
Holocaust Mass Graves of Eastern Europe,” a
pilot project, in 2010. Generously supported by
the German Foreign Office, the project will create
memorials and educational materials for five sites
in the western Ukraine. AJC Berlin is spearheading a European coalition of key partners, working
closely with the Central Council of Jews in Germany and the German War Graves Commission,
to focus greater attention on the mass shootings
of Jews in Eastern Europe, a long-neglected
chapter of the Holocaust.
2008 – : Launching of Jewish Educators
Circle
AJC Berlin brought together Jewish educators
from Jewish and non-Jewish schools to discuss
classroom treatment of Jewish history, ethics and
continuity, as well as Holocaust instruction and
the depiction of Israel. The network provides a
discussion space for reflection on these matters
and serves as a platform for participants to advise
governments and parliaments.
2010 – : AJC Israel and Jewish Life Program
with the German Military
In 2010, AJC Berlin’s Ramer Institute launched
a program for officers at German military
academies to deepen understanding of JewishGerman-American history and culture. The annual
program, which takes place alternately in Berlin
and Israel, intensifies the 19-year-old partnership
between the two institutions, focusing attention
on joint efforts to advance transatlantic strategic
affairs, promote democracy and raise awareness
about Israeli security.
2009: AJC Suit Against Amazon Regarding
Anti-Semitic Literature
In July 2009, AJC’s Berlin office filed suit against
Amazon Germany for selling dozens of antiSemitic books that are banned in Germany.
Although Munich prosecutors later dropped the
2010 – : “AJC-Allianz Third Generation Initiative in Cooperation with Germany Close Up”
AJC’s ACCESS young leadership program, AJC
Berlin, Germany Close Up and Allianz launched a
novel German-American-Jewish leadership program for young German managers and American
Jewish professionals to explore German-Jewish
relations, learn about Jewish life in Germany,
and serve as multipliers for strong transatlantic
relations. The program, which takes place in
Germany, brings together German and American
counterparts for a week of intensive reflection on
commonalities, differences and new paths for the
future.
2010 : International Conference “­Jewish
Dimensions of 1989/1990”
Twenty years after the fall of the wall, this major
event in Berlin on March 25, 2010, brought
together J­ ewish leaders from nine countries to
evaluate the dramatic changes in Jewish life triggered by the collapse of the former Soviet Union.
The conference was organized by AJC Berlin’s
Ramer Institute and the Central Council of Jews
in Germany, with support from the Foundation
Remembrance, Responsibility, and brought
together participants from the Jewish world with
political opinion leaders. The conference program
reviewed the impact of unification on Jewish
communities in Europe, the contribution of Jewish communities to the unification process, and
attempts to better secure and protect Jewish life
in contemporary Europe.
2011: Survey on European Hate-Crimes
Legislation
On June 10, 2011, AJC unveiled “Prosecuting
Hate Crimes In the U.S. And Europe: A Comparative Study,” written by lawyers at Hogan Lovells
offices in Europe and the U.S. The study examined legislation related to hate crimes in Germany,
France, Poland, the United Kingdom, the U.S.
and the European Union, examining as well cases
where the legislation has been applied. The study
concluded that existing legislation could be used
more effectively to combat manifestations of
hatred and anti-Semitism.
2011 – : AJC Berlin Launches Occasional
Background Briefing Series on Mideast
Affairs
Starting with the background briefing paper “United Nations Admission of Palestine? An Analysis
of Possible Consequences,” AJC Berlin launched
a well-received series of background research
papers in German and English on Mideast affairs
for members of parliament, government officials,
journalists and other public opinion leaders.
2011 – : Launching of AJC-LISUM Active
Against Antisemitism Curriculum
Together with the Berlin State Institute for Education and Media, AJC coordinated an innovative
curriculum project on Jewish life, Holocaust
issues and Mideast topics, bringing in angles
of special interest to youth with minority backgrounds.
2012: Combating Efforts to Outlaw Circumcision in Germany
In response to a June 2012 Cologne court judgment that ruled circumcision to be a criminally
liable procedure, AJC produced a report that
helped shape debate on the legal and medical consequences of circumcision. AJC ­Berlin’s
“Facts and Myths about the Circumcision
Controversy” exposed distortions, fallacies and
prejudices in claims made by anti-circumcision
activists about alleged medical dangers of male
circumcision. In a 2012 acceptance speech for
the Berlin Jewish community’s highest award,
Chancellor Angela Merkel singled out the AJC
Berlin report in remarks on the circumcision
controversy.
15 Years of Partnership
and Advocacy
Making a Difference