Update
Synagogue opened in Dessau
Scholz: “Jewish life is and remains a part of Germany”
October 22, 2023, 12:58 p.m
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The philosopher Moses Mendelssohn came from Dessau, as did the composer Kurt Weill. A new synagogue is named after the latter and is now being inaugurated. Chancellor Scholz promises to protect and strengthen Jewish life in Germany.
Around two weeks after the terrorist militia Hamas attacked Israel in Dessau-Roßlau, Anhalt new synagogue been inaugurated. Among others, Federal Chancellor Olaf Scholz also came. “This synagogue in the middle of Dessau says: Jewish life is and remains a part of Germany. It belongs here,” said the SPD politician at the event. Germany will do everything to protect and strengthen Jewish life.
The opening took place under increased security precautions.
(Photo: dpa)
He is deeply outraged by “how anti-Semitic hatred and inhumane hate speech has been spreading since that fateful October 7th – on the Internet, on social media, around the world and, shamefully, here here in Germany,” said Scholz, who was at wore a yarmulke at the event. “Here, of all places, in Germany. Germans committed the crime against humanity of the Shoah.” Shoah comes from Hebrew and means the mass destruction of Jews during the Second World War.
According to the city, the Weill Synagogue is the first newly built Jewish place of worship in Saxony-Anhalt since reunification. In addition to Scholz, Israeli Ambassador Ron Prosor, Saxony-Anhalt’s Prime Minister Reiner Haseloff from the CDU and the Vice President of the Central Council of Jews, Mark Dainow, also came to the inauguration. Among the guests was the board of the regional association of Jewish communities in Saxony-Anhalt, Max Privorozki, who is the board of the Jewish community in Halle. Four years ago, his community was the target of an anti-Semitic attack in which two people were killed.
The Federal Republic will do everything in its power to ensure that the hostages kidnapped by Hamas are released, Scholz said. The group’s terror is not only a turning point for Jews worldwide, “but for all of us.” There should be no tolerance for anti-Semitism in Germany.
Prosor announces “long war” against Hamas
Ambassador Prosor said October 7 was the worst day in Israel’s history. “Israel will never be the same again.” He announced a “long war” against Hamas, for which only the terrorist militia was responsible. The vice-president of the Central Council, Dainow, said old anti-Semitism was “present again on the German streets in a new guise.” The chairman of the Jewish Community in Dessau, Alexander Wassermann, said that his house should be a place of encounters and lively exchange. It should also be open to other religious groups for prayer.
Prime Minister Haseloff emphasized that the synagogue was a “symbol of a new beginning.” “But we also have to remember the past and face it again and again.” The future must be shaped together in such a way that “peace and humanity gain more and more space.” Dessau-Roßlau’s mayor Robert Reck called the inauguration a “historic moment of great importance”. The new synagogue is a place of prayer, meeting and togetherness. The Jewish community helps shape cultural life in the city, enriches it and shapes it.
After Hamas attacked Israel on October 7th and Israel then bombed the Gaza Strip, there have been pro-Palestinian protests in many places in Germany in the past few days. The inauguration therefore received special attention and security precautions were high. According to the police, special forces from the State Criminal Police Office should be deployed, among other things.
The Weill Synagogue is in the center not far from the town hall of the city famous for the Bauhaus. It complements the rabbi’s house, which was built in 1908 and is now a listed building. The synagogue’s namesake, Kurt Weill (1900-1950), who was born in Dessau, spent his childhood years there. His father Albert Weill was the community’s cantor. In the 1920s, Weill became known for his musical theater compositions. His works include the music he composed for Bertolt Brecht’s play “The Threepenny Opera”. With the new synagogue, the community has a modern, barrier-free center. The first plans for construction were made several years ago. In 2015, the Kurt Weill Foundation commissioned an initial study for a new place of worship.