Publicist Michel Friedman described a grim situation for Jewish families in Germany at the Conference of Education Ministers in Berlin. He reports insults and violence against Jewish children in schools and speaks of a form of ghettoization through guarded Jewish institutions.
At the Conference of Education Ministers in Berlin, 69-year-old publicist Michel Friedman sharply criticized the situation of Jewish children in Germany. "The life of Jewish children in Germany is worse than ever since the end of World War II," he said according to news agency KNA. He described how children face insults, degradation, and sometimes violence in educational institutions. "This diagnosis is a catastrophe," Friedman emphasized.
Jewish parents face the choice of sending their children to regular schools or to Jewish ones guarded by police. These security measures convey a sense of exclusion to the children from an early age, Friedman warned, speaking of a return to a form of ghettoization. He demanded that democracy and a culture of respectful debate be taught and lived in schools, while pointing to significant deficits in this area.
Along with Germany's ambassador to Israel, Steffen Seibert, Friedman gave an impulse speech on remembrance culture. The education ministers stressed the need to impart democratic values through critical engagement with history, cooperation with memorial sites, and projects against antisemitism and misanthropy.
The context reveals a sharp rise in antisemitism in Germany, particularly since the Gaza war. A study by the Infas Institute from late June found that every second member of Jewish communities feels unsafe, fearing hostility, attacks, and assaults as well as a lack of solidarity.
