Potsdam (dpa) – At the opening of the new synagogue in Potsdam, Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier called for people to take a stand against growing anti-Semitism. “Everywhere in Europe, Jews are sensing fear again – fear of hatred, of violence and of riots. Because they are Jews. This is intolerable,” Steinmeier said at the ceremony. Germany must do everything it can to protect Jewish life, the President continued.
“Only when Jews feel completely at home in Germany will this country be at one with itself,” said Steinmeier, promising: “Germany remains a home for Jews. This is what I personally believe and – I can assure you – what the majority of Germans believe as well.” The inauguration ceremony was also attended by Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock and Israel’s ambassador to Germany, Ron Prosor.
Up until recently, Potsdam was the only state capital in Germany that did not have a synagogue: there was only a small place of worship for Jews at the university. The old synagogue was destroyed in 1945.
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