jews and jewish education in germany today - The Westbury Group

Well, from the perspective of the Frankfurt Community, I have to say that they really work well with each
other. You get support if you need it. If the Community needs money for something, then they talk to you
about it. I would say that the relationship in Frankfurt works very smoothly. But I can only say this about
Frankfurt; I cannot judge how it is in other places in Germany.
● What is your impression of the non-Jewish mainstream media coverage in Germany concerning Jewish
topics?
I can tell you a funny story. I spoke to a large newspaper as a student and got a trial subscription and I
checked off that I read everything and it was good, but the Middle East coverage was miserable. The
people from there called me and asked why did you cancel your subscription? And I said because the
Middle East coverage was really bad. They asked what do you mean, subjective? I said yes. They hadn’t
really thought about it. That was the real reason that I cancelled my subscription, because I wanted more
objectivity. On the other hand when I talk to Jewish representatives, I always say that you need observe the
mood in a democratic process. The media isn’t like that by coincidence. They just write what there’s a
demand for. That’s something that you need to keep an eye on. There are many very good media, there are
some not so good, but in general I’d like to see more objectivity. That’s what I miss.
● What about coverage of Jewish developments here? Is the German media interested in that?
We’re such a small group. We should realize that there’s only 100,000 of us and there shouldn’t be as much
coverage about us as about 80 million Germans. That’s normal. We have our own media, that’s very good
and that’s enough. You can’t demand that the others write about the Jewish Community every day.
● How do you see the development of the Jewish media?
The Russian langue media or the German language media?
● Let’s start with the Russian language paper – the Evreyskaya Gazeta.
I don’t think that it’s very good, or well made. They don’t seem to check out and verify their reporting. As I
said, I didn’t study journalism, but I think they should check out their stories and make sure they’re true. In
general I think the more Jewish media, the better. Even from papers I don’t like.
● And the German language papers?
I think it’s good in itself that there’s some competition on the market. I think it’s a shame that one of the
German language Jewish papers [“Jüdische Zeitung”] recently closed down, I read it a few times. Like I
said in general I think the more Jewish media, the better.
● Do you think things will improve with the Internet?
Young people will try, and the lack of professionalism is due to the lack of interest in the large
organizations and Communities. They could create a huge site and a huge Community. These ideas exist.
They’re in my desk and in the desks of young Jews in Germany. There are things you can do, you just need
to want them. The contacts have been made.
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