Head of German Jewry Opposes Immigration of Some Ex-soviets

The German Jewish community has announced that it opposes immigrants from the former Soviet Union coming to Germany under the rubric of Judaism when their Jewish background is questionable.

“I have nothing against opening Germany’s doors to refugees,” said Ignatz Bubis, head of the Central Council of Jews in Germany. But, he added, “I don’t want anyone blaming us for unlawful immigration.”

Bubis made the remarks at a news conference Tuesday in Bonn.

Of the 100,000 people in the former Soviet Union who have applied for emigration visas to Germany as Jewish refugees, some 40,000 have come to Germany. Bubis said that only half of these immigrants are halachically Jewish, meaning they have a Jewish mother.

Due to the rise of Jewish immigration to Germany, some 50,000 people are registered members in the Jewish community of Germany, Bubis said.

Also at the news conference, Bubis praised Germany for its measures against neo-Nazis, saying they have led to drop in power of extreme-right political parties.

But he said the amount of anti-semitic propaganda has continued to rise.

Although Germany prohibits the publication of anti-Semitic propaganda, material is published outside its borders and shipped in, Bubis said. He also said he has seen anti-Semitic pamphlets published under the pretext of animal protection, accusing Jews for brutally slaughtering animals by “breaking their limbs in order to suck their blood.”

Bubis also retreated his belief at the news conference that the persecution of Bosnian Muslims could be compared to that of the Jews in Nazi Germany until 1939,” prior to the systematic annihilation of the Jewish people.”

The Central Council of Jews has scheduled on Oct. 26 meeting with the leaders of the Muslim community in Germany.