On the occasion of the 60th anniversary the Jewish Central Council received warm regards of appreciation from Chancellor Angela Merkel and two major Christian churches in Germany. In her letter to the President of the Central Council, Charlotte Knobloch, the German Chancellor congratulated the Jewish community a successful years of acting as an integral part of the German culture. When founded, many doubted the durability of the Council – wrote Angela Merkel – It was highly controversial whether the Jewish life could be again possible, after the break of civilization during the Shoah in Germany. The more thankful I look back over the last six decades. The Jewish Central Council has significantly contributed for the Jewish life to remain alive in its diversity as an integral part of the Germany culture.
The important role of the German Jewry was also emphasized in congratulation letters from Church dignitaries. Archbishop Robert Zollitisch, the Chairman of the German Bishops Conference” called the Central Council a “vital institution in the society”. In his letter to President Knobloch he declared a firm stand of the Catholic Church against all forms of anti-Semitism and the Holocaust denial. His stand was echoed in regards from Nicholas Schneider, the President of the Evangelical Church in Germany. Schneider pointed out that the voice of the Jewish Central Council is an “indispensable part of the public discourse”.
The Jewish Central Council was founded in July 1950 in Frankfurt am Main. At that time there were only 15,000 Jews living in Germany. Nowadays the Council is an umbrella organization for 107 Jewish communities with more than 100,000 members.
