B’nai B’rith Europe’s President Serge Dahan and Hanna Kalmenson, Director of the Brussels office met on November 18th 2019 with Ambassador Michael Clauss, from the Permanent Representation of Germany to the EU.

The meeting was arranged following our recent letter sent to the German Embassy after the tragic Halle attack that occurred on the 9^th of October 2019 on Yom Kippur.

President Serge Dahan presented the Ambassador with B’nai B’rith devotement to combat antisemitism, racism and to promote an inclusive society. Serge Dahan thanked the German government for its continuous commitment in the fight against antisemitism and drew the attention to the worrying fact of witnessing history repeating itself in Germany.

President Dahan urged the German government to prevent these attacks from happening again in the future by adapting the security and police training. Serge Dahan also recalled the need for youth focus.

Ambassador Clauss agreed that this was an alarming trend and confirmed that the German government is aware of a drastic increase of hate speech and hate crime in Germany during the  last years. He further informed that the German Government is currently brainstorming on a comprehensive project in the field of education, an announcement which was very well received. 

Serge Dahan mentioned the upcoming German EU presidency and insisted on the need of prioritizing the tackling of antisemitism.

Other topics discussed during the meeting were the need for a better Shoah education, but also the importance of including positive narratives about Jewish culture and the contribution of Jews to Europe in school curriculums.