East Berlin’s 300-member Jewish community recently received a shipment of Hebrew books from Israel, the Religious Department of the East Berlin Ministry for Cultural Affairs has confirmed. The books were sent at the request of the East Berlin Jewish community.
They consist largely of prayer books but include textbooks on the Hebrew language, the geography and history of Israel. Members of the East Berlin Jewish community told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency that they are further encouraged by the fact that two East Germans will receive this year’s Martin Buber Award of the West German Association for Christian-Jewish Cooperation. They will be cited for promoting understanding between the two religious communities.
The awards ceremony will be broadcast on West German television which is watched in East Berlin and can be received in most parts of East Germany. West German television programs on Israel and Jewish affairs are watched by large numbers of East Germans, according to East Berlin Jews. They cited, as an example, a recent one-hour telecast on Premier Yitzhak Shamir and his wife.
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The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
