Josef Schuster

Robert Sesselmann, center, visits a butcher shop in Sonneberg, Germany on April 27, 2023. (Robert Sesselmann)

German far-right party wins its first county leadership post, rising in polls

Victory of AfD’s candidate in rural Sonneberg area reflects rising popularity of anti-immigration party; Jewish group says party’s surge is something we ‘cannot simply accept’

June 25, 2023, 11:46 pm

German far-right party wins its first county leadership post, rising in polls

Victory of AfD’s candidate in rural Sonneberg area reflects rising popularity of anti-immigration party; Jewish group says party’s surge is something we ‘cannot simply accept’

By AP and ToI Staff

German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier (C) and President of the Central Council of Jews in Germany Josef Schuster (2nd-L) attend a commemoration service on the first anniversary of the antisemitic attack on the synagogue in Halle, Germany, on October 9, 2020. (Ronny Hartmann/AFP)

April 27, 2023, 9:26 pm

Germany boosts annual funding for Jewish umbrella group by 70%

Increased budget for Central Council of Jews in Germany is meant to increase security and help support new Jewish Academy in Frankfurt

By Toby Axelrod

Rabbi Walter Homolka, rector of the Abraham Geiger College, in the Liberal Jewish community's synagogue in Hanover, Germany in December 2016. (Julian Stratenschulte/picture alliance via Getty Images/JTA)

December 8, 2022, 10:35 pm

German rabbi exits leadership roles as report confirms allegations against him

Investigators commissioned by main Jewish group find that possibly criminal abuse of power and sexual harassment occurred at liberal rabbinical seminary under Rabbi Walter Homolka

By Toby Axelrod

Josef Schuster, the president of the Central Council of Jews in Germany, attends a press conference in Frankfurt on November 30, 2014. (AP Photo/Michael Probst)

December 1, 2022, 6:15 pm

Iran said suspected of attacks on German synagogues, threat to local Jewish leader

Report says authorities believe German-Iranian man who fled country has operational command over Revolutionary Guard plots in Germany

By ToI Staff

Rabbi Walter Homolka, second from right, and other liberal and Reform rabbis in the liberal Jewish community's synagogue in Hanover, Germany, December 1, 2016. (Julian Stratenschulte/picture alliance via Getty Images via JTA)

May 24, 2022, 7:51 am

Sexual harassment, power abuse allegations rattle Germany’s liberal Jewish community

Rabbi Homolka’s husband accused of sending lewd messages to students; rabbi, others said to have covered up alleged misconduct in ‘biggest scandal’ to hit postwar Jewish community

By Toby Axelrod

Germany's Anti-Semitism Commissioner Felix Klein (2nd from R) and Rabbi Gesa Ederberg (R) listen to the testimonies of Ukrainian jewish youths Mark from Kyiv (2nd from L) and Sonja from Odessa at Berlin's Jewish International school in Berlin on March 24, 2022. (John MACDOUGALL / AFP)

March 31, 2022, 10:59 am

Ukraine’s Jews find ‘remarkable’ refuge in Germany, 77 years after the Holocaust

Thousands of Ukrainian Jewish refugees have fled fighitng for German safety; local community chief says Berlin has ‘taken on its historic obligations’

By Yannick Pasquet

Illustrative: In this June 19, 1938, picture, the word Jude (Jew) is smeared on the windows of a shop in Berlin run by Jews. (AP Photo, FILE)

February 17, 2022, 9:56 am

German dictionary changes ‘Jew’ definition after outcry over tie to Nazi use of word

Update made after Germany’s Jewish community rejects claim that ‘Jude’ may be discriminatory due to ‘the memory’ of word’s deployment in Holocaust

By Kirsten Grieshaber

German Chancellor Angela Merkel addresses a press conference after a meeting with social partners, in Meseberg, eastern Germany, on September 3, 2018. (AFP PHOTO / Tobias SCHWARZ)

September 25, 2021, 6:11 am

‘A steadfast ally’: Angela Merkel’s departure a sad moment for many German Jews

Leaders describe outgoing chancellor as ‘a reliable partner for the Jewish community,’ with a legacy where ‘the good greatly outweighs the bad’

By Cnaan Liphshiz

In this file photo, police use water canons to clear a blocked road near the German federal parliament, as people attend a protest rally in Berlin, Germany, against the coronavirus restrictions in Germany in July 2020. (AP Photo/Michael Sohn, file)

June 15, 2021, 3:52 pm

German officials, Jewish groups warn far-right extremism on the rise

Head of Jewish umbrella group says report shows ‘shocking extent’ to which threat has grown; authorities say neo-Nazis sought to join protests against virus restrictions

By Frank Jordans

A pro-Palestinian slogan and the acronym for a praise for Allah on the wall of the synagogue in Cueta, Spain on May 12, 2021. (FJCE via JTA)

May 12, 2021, 8:19 pm

German Jews seek protection after Israeli flags burned outside synagogues

16 arrested in Germany for anti-Israel incidents outside houses of worship in Bonn, Muenster; ‘Free Palestine’ graffitied on synagogue in Spain

By Agencies and ToI Staff

13 June 2020, Bavaria, Wurzburg: Stylized pieces of luggage stand at a memorial for deported Jews in front of the main station. The abandoned suitcases are intended to symbolize the loss and disappearance of Jews and their religious communities during the Nazi era. (Photo by Karl-Josef Hildenbrand/picture alliance via Getty Images via JTA)

June 19, 2020, 7:29 pm

At German station, a unique memorial dedicated to Jews deported to their death

Designed by artist Matthias Braun, sculpture features a collection of abandoned suitcases to symbolize the loss and disappearance of Jews under Nazis

By Toby Axelrod

German Chancellor Angela Merkel answers the questions of deputies at Bundestag in Berlin, Germany on December 18, 2019. (Abdulhamid Hosbas/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images via JTA)

May 17, 2020, 12:13 pm

Germany relaxes immigration rules for Jews from former Soviet Union

Jewish immigrants 60 and older, as well as disabled adults of any age, won’t need a forecast of integration into German society; rules for family reunification to be loosened

By Joe Baur

Mourners light candles on October 10, 2019, at the synagogue in Halle, eastern Germany, one day after a deadly anti-Semitic shooting. (Ronny Hartmann/AFP)

May 9, 2020, 11:33 pm

German monitor finds rise in anti-Semitic incidents after Halle synagogue attack

Report highlights 1,253 reported incidents of Jew hatred across four federal states, including Berlin, in wake of 2019 Yom Kippur shooting

By Joe Baur

Pipe major Andy Reid of The Scots Guards plays his pipes on the cliffs of Dover, southern England on May 6, 2020 as two Spitfires from the battle of Britain memorial flight fly over him during a posed picture to commemorate the 75th anniversary of VE day (Richard Pohle / POOL / AFP)

May 8, 2020, 8:50 am

On VE Day under shadow of virus, world marks 75 years since end of WWII

Ceremonies, parties and parades cancelled; Berlin declares one-off public holiday on the anniversary; Trump to be joined by elderly veterans for wreath-laying commemoration

By Agencies

A view of the former Buchenwald concentration camp in Weimar, Germany, January 26, 2018. (Jens Schlueter/Getty Images via JTA)

January 27, 2020, 12:14 am

1 in 5 Germans think the Holocaust gets too much attention, surveys find

45 percent say country’s remembrance activities are appropriate, according to one poll, 37% tell another survey it’s time to stop the browbeating

By Toby Axelrod