Blog Introduction

Before Hitler rose to power in 1933, Germany boasted a burgeoning
Jewish community of more than 500,000 people, a third of which lived
in Berlin. Famous German Jews, such as Albert Einstein and Erich
Fromm, contributed to the entire fabric of German culture – the
sciences, the arts, and politics. But during the Nazi reign, when six
million Jews were murdered across Europe, that special
interconnectedness between Jewish and German culture was nearly
completely destroyed. After the war, most Jews who survived the
Holocaust fled to other countries, and the few who stayed in Germany
often contemplated leaving. For several decades, the number of those
who remained stayed below 30,000.

But this has changed in recent years. After the Wall came down in
1989, many Jews from the former Soviet Union decided to move to
Germany thanks to its newly liberalized immigration laws. Because of
Germany’s history, it’s surprising to many people in other parts of
the world that Jews are choosing to immigrate to Germany, sparking a
renewal of Jewish life there. However, the facts are convincing: Today
more than 120,000 Jews live once again within German borders.
Especially in and around Berlin, this renewal is visible in many
places, including synagogues, theaters, museums, community centers,
and schools.

During GLEAN’s 2010 expedition, three San Francisco Bay Area teenagers
-- Haley Goldlist, Rachel Star, and Michelle Wantuch -- are in Berlin
to investigate and document the Renewal of Jewish Life in Berlin.