German Chancellor Angela Merkel and the Evangelical and Catholic Churches on Monday praised the central Jewish council on the 60th anniversary of its founding. 'The Central Council of Jews in Germany has significantly contributed to the establishment of Jewish life, in all its variety, as a fixed part of German culture,' Merkel wrote in a letter to the council's president, Charlotte Knoblauch.
The head of the Catholic Church in Germany, Archbishop Robert Zollitsch, said he was grateful for the good relationship between the council and the Catholic community.
Zollitsch said his church would help to keep the memory of the past alive and reject any form of anti-Semitism.
The Evangelical Church said that the council's voice was an indispensable part of public discourse.
The council was founded on July 19, 1950. After the Holocaust there were around 15,000 Jews left in Germany. According to the council there are now more than 100,000.
SIC: M&C