Dr. Graumann, how would you characterize the Jewish communities in Germany today?
Altogether, looking at the whole of Germany, 90% of our communities are composed of those people who have come to us from Eastern Europe over the past twenty years. Everyone is talking about integration. We’re practising it. And we’re enjoying unprecedented success – despite all the imperfections. In the eastern part of Germany some of the communities consist entirely of immigrants. The new arrivals to our community have to overcome two major obstacles: they have to integrate into German society, which is quite different from Russian or Ukrainian society, and they have to attune themselves to the microcosm of the Jewish community. That’s why the communities are undergoing extreme changes at the moment: we’re building a whole new Jewish community.
What is the greatest challenge in this respect?
That we stick together. The enlarged numbers make the membership far more heterogeneous, and this increases the danger of us drifting apart politically. The centrifugal forces that are driving us apart – some people want to tear us apart quite intentionally – are continually gaining in strength. It’s a very big challenge: we want to continue speaking politically with a single voice, as a pluralist yet united Jewish community.
Following your election it has often been said that you are the first president of the Central Council of Jews in Germany who didn’t personally experience the Holocaust, and that with you a new generation is entering the stage…
It’s true of course that the Central Council is now headed for the first time by someone who was not personally involved in the Shoah. But after more than 65 years this was bound to happen sometime, if only for numerical reasons. So, in this respect, it’s not exactly sensational. On the other hand, it’s not completely true, because as a member of the second generation I’ve been strongly influenced by the Shoah. We grew up with the nightmares, violations and wounds suffered by our parents – it can’t be said that this chapter in history closes with us. On the contrary, to a certain extent the stories and traumas have been passed on directly to us as well.
Your first name is actually David. As a schoolboy you changed it to Dieter, so that people wouldn’t notice immediately that you were Jewish. Is something like that still imaginable today?
I don’t think so. On the one hand, biblical names, such as Sarah, Aaron, Miriam and other very beautiful names, are quite popular nowadays, especially with non-Jewish people. But today, there’s no longer any need to hide your identity. In those days I was the only Jewish child in the whole elementary school. It’s important to understand such things in the context of their times.
But at some point you decided to clearly identify with your Jewishness. What would you say was the decisive factor?
As far as political involvement is concerned, I was strongly influenced by Ignatz Bubis. He was the very first person to show us Jews that we have to stand up for what is important to us – also to engage aggressively and polemically in controversial debates – and that when we do this, we will not remain alone. Bubis worked and fought hard for the legitimacy of outspoken Jewish engagement in Germany. I was always close by and was greatly impressed by this deep commitment. People who just smile never gain respect. You have to prove you can bite as well.
And can you bite?
Yes, if I have to. But smiling is so much nicer.
What do you want to achieve in your time as president of the Central Council?
I don’t want to set a rigid goal that I’m then compelled to constantly pursue. I want to give the Jewish community in Germany a fresh perspective and a strong future. My wish is for a Jewish community that is aware of itself and its strengths, that is wide awake and lively and doesn’t become bogged down in the old routine of Jewish arguments, but engages openly and aggressively in many social debates that concern all the people in Germany. And vice versa, my wish is for a society that accepts us as Jewish people and at the same time doesn’t marginalize us. We want to be a source of inspiration, filled with new confidence – despite all possible catastrophes.////
Interview: Janet Schayan
Dr. Dieter Graumann
The economist was born in Israel in 1950 and grew up in Frankfurt am Main. He is head of the umbrella association of Jewish communities in Germany with approximately 105,000 members.
