When I first arrived in Berlin, I was invited to gatherings at playgrounds of Israelis in the city where I met new parents like me. As a Mizrahi, I was a bit of a stranger and darker-skinned and I watched them from the sidelines with a mix of wonder and admiration. I thought that generosity of a different order of magnitude was required for the grandchildren of survivors, people whose families were left with a mental and physical scar from the Holocaust, to forgive the Germans, return to live among them, raise children alongside them and under the difficult-to-digest German systems
The underlying assumption, of course, was that Germany had learned its lesson — that it would do everything in its power, using all democratic means at its disposal, to protect and preserve the lives of Jews and Israelis living within its borders. Only the reality of recent years proves that Germany has indeed learned a great deal, internalized lessons and adopted deep moral imperatives to ensure that what happened in Berlin 90 years ago will not happen again. Everything — except the matter of six million victims. Precisely the lesson of safeguarding Jewish life, and ensuring the ability to live Jewish lives with dignity in Germany, is one Germany has not learned.
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Pro-Palestinian students who took over Berlin's Humboldt University building last year
(Photo: Michele Tantussi / Getty Images)
It began with subtle signals. People like me, darker-skinned, were told it was better not to go to areas in eastern Germany, a short distance from Berlin, where a new neo-Nazi scene exists. Then came advice to stay out of immigrant neighborhoods like Neukölln. “There’s nothing for you there. They don’t like Jews there either.”
Then came the campaign that “violence against Jews is justified because of Netanyahu’s policies,” followed by mezuzahs being torn from doorposts, Hebrew being silenced in the streets, and the removal of Jewish symbols. Every time you stepped into public space, you had to censor yourself. Even ordering an Uber became an act of screening.
Over the weekend, it reached places we had thought of as a kind of modern, protected ghetto for Jews, such as the neighborhoods of Prenzlauer Berg and Mitte. A swastika, 70 centimeters by 70 centimeters, was sprayed on a building, and next to it, in black paint, in large and proud letters (one meter by 75 centimeters), the words: “Kill all the Jews.” My son and I sometimes pass that building on our bikes, stopping to kick a soccer ball around. Maybe that route now needs to be censored as well.
Oh, the Germans learned everything from that war. They safeguard individual rights, oppose fascism and support pacifism, and open their arms to welcome migrants from Muslim countries. Tens of thousands take to the streets to protest Putin and Trump, and to put on violent pro-Palestinian demonstrations. They oppose the far right and support migrants, and tens of thousands march against digital sexual violence against women.
Zeev AvrahamiAnd they are deeply sorry, embarrassed and ashamed of their past, and of what it did to the Jews. Germans love dead Jews. There are memorial sites on every corner, names engraved into sidewalks at every step, ceremonies and research. But no one takes to the streets to protest for the right of Jews to live here with dignity, not in hiding. No one truly considered what the arrival of millions of Muslims without oversight would mean for Jewish life here. The woke movement of the far left embraces every minority — except Jews. They do not need protection. Students link arms and sing “Free Palestine from German guilt.”
Maybe Israelis have forgiven the Germans, but the Germans have never forgiven the Jews. And I am done forgiving them. This is what they have allowed — a public trivialization of Jewish lives. A swastika and “Kill all the Jews,” close to my home. Soon there will be expressions of shock, but no one will take to the streets over it. No one will cry out. This is the routine. After the shock, order will return to the streets — along with demonstrations for Palestine and the erasure of Israel. There is a hierarchy of priorities, and aside from lip service, Jewish lives are at the bottom of that list.
Polls show that one in four Germans is poised to vote for a fascist party. They learned everything from that war — except a few small things.