European Jewish Association Repudiates German call to avoid wearing a kippah.

Press release: Joseph Goebbels villa & hate speech -EJA responds to Berlin government plan to sell or demolish Goebbels villa.

European Jewish Association (EJA) makes urgent appeal to Berlin’s Finance Senator (minister): “Turn Goebbels Villa into a World Center for Combatting Hate Propaganda!”

For immediate release

The European Jewish Association (EJA) makes urgent appeal to Berlin’s Finance Senator (minister) who recently announced that the Berlin government could no longer afford the costs of maintaining an abandoned villa once belonging to Nazi propaganda minister Joseph Goebbels.

In an official letter to Berlin’s Finance Senator (minister), Stefan Evers, EJA chairman Rabbi Menachem Margolin responded to the city of Berlin’s intention to sell or demolish a villa once belonging Joseph Goebbels, by expressing EJA’s willingness to explore solutions regarding the preservation of the estate.

Addressing Berlin’s finance minister, Rabbi Margolin noted:

“Turning the villa that once belonged to one of the worst engineers of genocidal propaganda in human history into a center for political psychology, communication, and combating hate speech would be an important moral victory.

“EJA is ready to examine the possibility of promoting the idea of such a center and realizing it.

“91 years since the Nazis came to power, the free world is once again facing waves of lethal propaganda deliberately engineered to create a virtual reality that nurtures hate and destructive violence.

“It is precisely these days that Dr. Goebbels’ villa should not be demolished. Rather, it should stand as both an eternal reminder of the perilous dangers posed by hate speech as well as an important center for identifying hate trends that are on the rise at an alarming exponential rate in the entire western world, including Germany.”

“The European Jewish Association is interested in exploring the possibility of turning the estate of one of the worst engineers of genocidal propaganda in human history into a center for the study of political psychology, communication and the fight against hate speech.

“We are interested in implementing the matter together with the Berlin government”.

In his letter to Senator Stefan Evers, Rabbi Margolin concludes:

“Although this week marks exactly 79 years since Goebbels poisoned his six children and committed suicide in the infamous Hitler bunker, a reminder of an equally fascist and murderous leadership currently lurking underground in Gaza, we are again living in chilling times where people are seeking to destroy Jews – but now no longer only through words.

“Let us transform the villa, from where hate speech and genocidal thought was once spread, to place for spreading good. Doing so would be an important moral victory.”

For more details / request to interview Rabbi Margolin,
please contact your EIPA/EJA media advisor – Yossi Lempkowicz, Tovi Borins, Oliver Bradley, David Khalfa, or Juan Caldes

or Tal Rabina of the Israel team:
+972 50-5331027

AS JEWISH CEMETERY IN SLOVAKIA IS DEFACED AGAIN, EUROPEAN JEWISH ASSOCIATION URGES SLOVAK GOVERNMENT TO CLAMP DOWN HARD ON REPULSIVE PERPETRATORS AND INCREASE HOLOCAUST EDUCATION PROVISION

Immediate focus after bringing prosecutions against perpetrators must be on education says EJA Chairman Rabbi Menachem Margolin.

(Brussels 17 March 2025) A Jewish Cemetery in Humenne, Slovakia was desecrated with the daubing of Swastikas on headstones. This is the second time that the Cemetery was attacked, and follows a pattern of attacks over the last years on Jewish cemetaries.

The cemetery stands as memorial monument to a lost community, wiped out in the Holocaust.

The Brussels based European Jewish Association represents hundreds of Jewish Communities across Europe. Its Chairman Rabbi Menachem Margolin has written to the Slovak Minister of Education, Mr Tomas Drucker urging his department to increase Holocaust education in all schools and for his government clamp down hard and prosecute the perpetrators.

In a statement today, Rabbi Margolin said,

“The desecration of Jewish graves is heinous, repulsive and a betrayal of memory. These stones stand as a testament to a community that vanished after humanity’s lowest point: the Holocaust

“I have written to the Slovakian Education Minister to increase Holocaust education in Slovakia. When graveyards are habitually desecrated it points to a sickness in society that needs to be addressed.

“The best cure, other than the perpetrators feeling the full weight of justice, is through education, in particular of learning the lessons of the Holocaust and where mindless hatred can lead a society. The government must clamp down hard.”

“Where Brussels has led, others must follow”, says EJA Chairman Rabbi Menachem Margolin, adds “thank goodness for 3 Parliaments in Belgium.”

(Brussels 17 June). In a closely contested vote (42 against, 38 for) the Brussels Parliament has just voted not to ban Kosher slaughter in the Capital Region.

The move represents a victory for Jews in the Belgian Capital and stands in contrast to both Flanders and Wallonia (Belgium’s other regions) where bans on Kosher slaughter are in place.

Welcoming the vote, Rabbi Menachem Margolin, the Chairman of the European Jewish Association that represents hundreds of communities across the Continent, and whose offices are headquartered in Brussels said in a statement:

“After a steady stream of bans across Europe that has left many communities bereft of local Kosher meat and having to shoulder the increased expenses of importing meat, we applaud this vote by Belgium’s Capital Parliament.

“The expense of course is of secondary concern to the overwhelming feeling from communities across the continent that their faith and traditions are constantly under threat by ill-though out , or malign legislation. 

“It is not said too often, but thank goodness for 3 parliaments in Belgium. There are few bastions left where Freedom of Religion is still considered a fundamental right. As a citizen of Brussels, I am proud that the capital is such a bastion. Where Brussels has led, others must now follow”.

COUNCIL OF EUROPEAN JEWISH LEADERS MEET IN ROME AMID ANTISEMITISM CRISIS 

EUROPEAN GOVERNMENTS ARE NOT STANDING BEHIND THEIR COMMITMENTS TO JEWISH COMMUNITIES SAY COUNCIL HEADS  

“The test is now” says EJA Chairman Rabbi Menachem Margolin “and European governments are failing it so far.” 

(Rome, 27 February 2024) The European Jewish Association’s Council of Jewish Leaders is meeting in Rome to discuss the challenges faced by European Jewish Communities. 

Despite commitments to safeguard jewish communities and promises to root out antisemtism, too many governments across Europe have done neither, concluded the 40 Jewish heads from across Europe present at the EJA’s Council of Jewish Leaders meeting.   

There is a political and policing failure to act upon anti-hate and anti-BDS legislation already in place, and despite many countries signing up to the IHRA definition, barely any are adhering to its principles.  

“The laws and definition are not worth the paper they are printed on right now”, said one Dutch Jewish Community Leader, citing the number of protests advocating genocide and ethnic cleaning of Jews in Israel, and often worldwide by using Nazi tropes and iconography.  

Based in Brussels and representing hundreds of Jewish communities across Europe, the European Jewish Association’s Council meeting is a key decision making body of the EJA, bringing Jewish Leaders together, to exchange insights and develop the strategic and advocacy backbone of EJA activities and policy for the betterment of Jewish life in Europe in 2024.  

The Jewish leaders agreed upon an 18 point plan of action for 2024, including increasing Community safety, securing a ban on the sale of Nazi memorabilia and engaging major sports clubs and institutions in fighting antisemitism.  

The Council was adressed by Israel’s Special Envoy for Combatting antisemitism, Israel’s Ambassador to Italy, Alon Bar, Italy’s special envoy for combatting antisemitism Pasquale Angelosanto, and the President of the Italian Senate, Ignazio La Russa. 

Joel Mergui, the President of the EJA’s Council of European Jewish Leaders and the Paris Consistoire, said at the close of the Conference.  

“The Jewish leaders are clear, we refuse to live in fear, we are strong and we will overcome this current tide of hate. It is unnacceptable that calls for genocide and ethnic cleansing as typified by “From the river to the Sea”, and calls for “infidada” are now commonplace, along with nazi symbols and outright antisemitic imagery in regular use.  

This is a major cause of antisemitism, and authorities across the continent must do more to stick to their commitments that they have repeatedly given to protect Jews and fight antisemitism.” 

The Chairman of the European Jewish Association, Rabbi Menachem Margolin, said. 

“As Jewish leaders, it is our duty to protect our communities. The message from community leaders on the Council is clear: the EU and governments must translate their nice words on ensuring the safety of Jewish communities into meaningful actions.  

“The test of any government commitments in standing up for European jewry is right now. Our council is clear, based on the evidence so far, european governments are failing this test. ” 

Ends.

Gallery: https://ejassociation.eu/eja/the-council-of-jewish-leaders-in-rome/