Court blocks cross-border Holocuast lawsuits

A ruling last week by the International Court of Justice in The Hague that victims of the Nazis will not have the right to sue Germany in foreign courts has dashed hopes for speedier justice for Holocaust survivors.

The judgment overturned a 2004 decision by the Italian Supreme Court, which ruled that Germany should pay reparations to an Italian former slave labourer, Luigi Ferrini.

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German fund pulls NGO cash

A German organisation which compensates survivors of Nazi labour camps has withdrawn funding for a Israeli NGO for its support of the Palestinian right of return.

The foundation - the Memory, Responsibility and Future Fund (EVZ) - said it would no longer support the educational work of Zochrot, a Tel-Aviv based NGO that also promotes the interpretation of the establishment of Israel as a "Naqb

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'One in five young Germans in dark about Auschwitz'

Sixty-seven years after the liberation of Auschwitz, one in five young Germans remain clueless about where the concentration camp was located.

Ten per cent of those surveyed for Germany's Stern news magazine were unaware that Auschwitz, where 1,100,000 Jews and non-Jews perished, was a concentration camp.

And 20 per cent of the 18-29 year olds questioned did not know that the camp was situat

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Jewish newspaper launched in Germany

A Jewish quarterly aiming to "connect Jews with gentiles, Germany with the world" was launched in Germany this week.

Its publisher just wants the world to know that Hitler did not succeed. "A lot of people think that… Germany is 'Judenfrei' - free of Jews - and it is not true," said German Jewish author Rafael Seligmann, 64. "It is not only a culture of victims. We have a vivid community.

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Germany needs to free itself from the shackles of history

It is a mere scrap of paper, as brief as a shopping list. "Ten uses for money" is written at the top with helpful hints as to what Germans can do with their Reichsmarks: wallpaper their living rooms, burn them as winter fuel, use them to prop up broken chairs.

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Berlin: antisemitism 'mainstream'

Germany urgently needs to focus on fighting antisemitism in "dominant" sections of society, according to a government report.

The report, delivered to the Bundestag last week, showed that while far-right, far-left and Islamist extremists are responsible for the majority of Jew-hatred, there is a deeper layer of antisemitism simmering in the country at large.

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Germany still special friend of Israel?

While most of Europe will abstain from any Security Council vote on Palestinian statehood, as it stands Germany will vote against the motion.

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Neo-Nazi group is banned

Germany's decision to ban one of the country's largest neo-Nazi organisations has been welcomed by Jewish leaders and Holocaust survivors, who hope for further crackdowns on the far-right.

German Interior Minister Hans-Peter Friedrich said Wednesday that HNG - "national organisation for political prisoners and their relatives" - purports to help criminals become productive members of society, b

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Pope Benedict meets German Jewish leaders

The Pope praised Jewish-Christian relations in a meeting with Germany's Jewish community on Thursday.

The German-born Pope Benedict met 15 representatives of the Jewish community as part of his three-day state visit to Germany.

During his address at the Reichstag, the Pope spoke of his thankfulness for improving Jewish relations with the Catholic Church.

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Israelis flock to Germany

Israelis are moving to Germany in unprecedented numbers - and finding a receptive atmosphere.

Over the past ten years, thousands of Israelis have settled in the German capital. The German-Israel Society estimates there are 8,000, but the figure could be as high as 15,000.

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