Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres offered a prayer for peace in the Middle East and for the victims of the Holocaust during a ceremony this week marking the opening of the new Israeli Embassy here.
With some 2,000 people attending Wednesday’s ceremony, Peres called the embassy “not only a House of Israel, but also a house representing all those driven out of their homes” by the Nazis.
Speakers at the ceremony included Israel’s first ambassador in Berlin, Shimon Stein; Germany’s foreign minister, Joschka Fischer; and Berlin Mayor Eberhardt Diepgen.
Fischer called the embassy’s opening “an extraordinary, special event for Israelis and Germans.”
The festivities — which included a live klezmer band and kosher hors d’oeuvres prepared by the embassy chef — took place under the watchful gaze of several masked, black-clad sharpshooters poised on the embassy roof.
The new structure is faced with Jerusalem stone and consists of six segments, meant as a reminder of the 6 million Jews murdered in the Holocaust.
It was built on land purchased in 1928 by a Jewish businessman, Hermann Schondorf, who was forced to emigrate in 1934, a year after the Nazis came to power.
The building was designed by Israeli architect Orit Willenberg-Giladi and built by Hochtief, Germany’s second largest construction firm.
The company also built Hitler’s Berlin bunker.
Help ensure Jewish news remains accessible to all. Your donation to the Jewish Telegraphic Agency powers the trusted journalism that has connected Jewish communities worldwide for more than 100 years. With your help, JTA can continue to deliver vital news and insights. Donate today.
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.
