President Heinrich Luebke of the West German Federal Republic visited the Cologne Jewish community today. President Luebke, who was received by Rabbi Zwi Azarya and Jewish communal leaders, placed a wreath in the memorial hall for the victims of the Nazi terror;
The President’s visit coincided with the issuance of the first issue of a quarterly “Germania Judaica” bulletin by the Cologne library for the History of German Jewry. The Library, dedicated to the “preservation of German-Jewish history and to the recapture of the Jewish contributions to German culture,” was founded in June 1958 by two young Catholic writers, Heinrich Boell and Paul Schallueck.
“We are concerned about historical reality and not so much about superficial political manifestations, because we realize that the harm the persecutions of the Jews has done is too deep to be overcome by mere declarations, “the editors wrote in the first issue. “Only the whole truth, no matter how horrible it may be, can aid us in reestablishing contact with the Jews.”
The scientific board of the Library met here recently to discuss plans for research and for establishment of an institution of Jewish learning.
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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.