“More democracy was the leading idea. We didn’t expect the GDR to end, and a ‘united German fatherland’ was not our issue. We had founded a Jewish Group in 1985, which argued, among other issues, for Jewish and socialist identities. Wir-für-uns (we for us)—Jews for Jews. It was a great time! After the wall had come down, we established the Jewish Cultural Association (Jüdischer Kulturverein / JKV) in December 1989 and, in February 1990, we demanded that the GDR government granted Soviet Jews immigration to the GDR. Without results. The powerless government was now controlled by the Central Round Table and elections in March 1990 changed everything. The new government opened the border for Soviet Jewish immigration in May and (East-)Berlin became a place for Jews again.”

Irene Runge (*1942, New York), co-founder of the Jewish Cultural Association, will talk about political changes and Jewish identities in the East Berlin of 1989.

Tuesday, November 12, 2019, at 6 pm
Rosa Luxemburg Stiftung—NYC Office
275 Madison Avenue, Suite 2114 (entrance on 40th St)
New York, NY 10016

Doors open at 5:30 pm. A light dinner will be served.