you're watching d w. news coming up next is doc film that's taking a look at jewish life in europe today. so do you stay with us if you can for that? i'm sarah kelly in berlin. thank you so much for watching. take care and stay safe . the goal was right in front of them. then suddenly we agreed to postpone the or didn't the game said tokyo with 2020 from of course, during the qualifying ground for sports heroes. countdown during lockdown starts july. 19th on d, w. o.

ah. every day jewish life in europe that's rarely shown away from politics, the middle east and anti semitism. it was important for us to continuously go there and capture what's going on with alice bona is one of the most significant jewish film produces in europe. i found it was important to have this perspective to tell the story of europe, jewish communities as we traveled across the continent. kugal mine has always played a big role in our family. he's editor in chief of the magazine, tankless, and he's written so many articles that we discussed together over mealtimes. so i was really keen to work with the news,

the who's who's we're now meeting a woman with a very unique family history. she grew up in east germany in east berlin as a socialist in a family that vehemently rejected 2 days. and now she has a very strong jewish identity, would come to us and my mother came from a very german family, a jewish family that had assimilated the temper ones they couldn't get baptized

enough to get rid of the jewish. and so i wanted to belong on boys. i didn't want anything more to do with judaism and all the funny traditions. and it had a slight air of protestantism about it as, as of what does. but actually victor klemperer, one of our more famous fellowships, wrote in his diary that he could not get rid of his jewishness. yeah. same article . what was the problem when you go by the seminar and it was the same with my mother. my father came from glee in levine and the former austro hungarian. i am in bed eating, the same in lived with his parents in berlin, sean infertile district. and he grew up a very interesting time. he said to his father know what i think was like the bar mitzvah is the last thing i'm going to do for you. and then you can stick it miss

across the street. there was the central committee of the communist party unduly plot. that's now rosa luxembourg. you just switch to the other side of the street. i liked it better there and decided to join the movement. and there were also many, many jews. there. he went into exile in 1933, and then for the spanish civil war and the french resistance and so on with a gun in his and i sent you the act. and so when he came back to east germany, it was the question of cognitive resonance. he had to be on the side of socialism or everything he done, there would be meaningless. in socialism, religion was seen as unnecessary, superfluous and reactionary. there was no longer a jewish culture, it was reduced to religion. so that and when they returned to germany, they weren't allowed to be jews anymore. they had to leave the jewish community if they wanted to become. we also had relatives from west berlin,

who always came to our house for dinner on saturday. it was funny because as a kid, i only knew about judaism indirectly. for example, my mother would tell me gadget sonya had just left the temple and imagined this greek ample, him with columns and stuff that police issue him. i didn't know what it was. i didn't think it was anything bad. i just thought it was something they had their job in fact in and don't tell them their work in the garage. there was always little things like that. so we didn't celebrate shabba, but it was a ritual that they would come to us after temple. com. okay, so let's say you're having white white blane. yes. i do all the time. i'm so much. hello.

me on the we're on our way to poland and i'm feeling pretty queasy about it. that's totally understandable. your parents, a holocaust survivors from poland with a history like that. it's no wonder you feel that way. yes, it's painful response this yes, i found the journey very firing so far as a journalist, i've spent a lot of time grappling with a problem today hasn't been here. we've seen diversity being experienced in a totally different way. and those are the, all i know is today is them is a lot of us, it's vibrant, broad, low,

realistic. and it's something that really is all about everyday life called it's only when you specifically ask people about it that you get into questions of anti semitism. and debates about the middle is told about schools and i did that, i never would have thought that judaism could be live, so openly. i really thought more say and even more so. and it makes me think, because the way i grew up was very different in berlin, and there was a huge presence everywhere outside the kindergarten schools, outside the synagogue, and in the community center line, there were huge numbers. the security guards, mainly israelis craft, come back on sure. there were a few in france to guarding the jewish site, but i didn't find it nearly as intense was. it was very impressive.

when we were in berlin, which is my hometown. we saw young, it's really opening businesses making art launching, start out and it's a cool thing to do. and they themselves are very cool. but i still think they don't have the confidence that jewish people in france just for several years. i don't think they can live that life to the health standards. i've never been, i've capital a lot in poland and eastern europe. and i'm curious to see how things have changed in recent years, especially the building of new jewish communities, all my stuff. and i hope to learn something by talking to the people problem. that's what i'm most excited about at the moment. we could talk, we all know how poland is developed and i suspect that there's growing right wing populism of the tax on democracy and liberalism, or another movement that directly targeting do days. i'm going to ask you to shift,

i'm very curious about that as well as from the a a lot has changed here in recent years in terms of jewish life and how it's programmed. well, on our way to the jewish school in warsaw that has 30 percent jewish and 70 percent non jewish children. yes, it's nice that there are jewish schools here again at all places. coaching fish. sad to say to one fair.

they don't have to write down the prayers, but we have somebody me think so we have to do so and time on every friday with everyone. everyone everyone's. i'm kind of regina, we don't celebrate tunnel. we go through the jewish kind of, we are close to jewish holidays and in the curriculum. and in the celebration we only have jewish. they learn 3 hours of jewish subjects, 3 hours to schedule, so it's additional 6 hours, which is the last, personally for smoking. so it's like significant amount and they feed it, they know they're in school, the impossible to ignore artifact so and it's very important for jewish community and between among the children. is there any timing issue between on this level on jewish kids have problems with the other one saw? no, no, it's never been, they grow up together. they know each other from being 3 years old girls,

they start in the kindergarten and usually they just grow into for the next level. so that this model of p for exactly are nation to show you days. and also because people from now they are our bus and the high school. and when they go to the, the may almost have nicer schools here than we do in switzerland. i'm impressed that the school have a totally jewish character. even though the majority of the children aren't jewish, ah, in our school, it's the complete opposite. we're now entering, the only thing to go again was all that wasn't destroyed during the 2nd world war. so they were to end all of these. so as you call and a half a dozen times in the, in the 70s or eighties,

which wasn't the most popular thing to do as the somewhat supposedly normal american jewish way from one island. and by the late seventy's begin meeting. young pulse recently discovered the jewish identity, which really introduced me to a whole world, which certainly you know, 30 years no one was talking about. and that is how come there and he just left him home today. september 1st 1939 world war 2 begins. at that point there 3 and a half 1000000 jews and poland, the heart, the soul of african as a world. only 5 years later, 90 percent 90 percent no longer live, having been murdered by trauma and accomplishes statements over basic. most people to say, well, how many survive? 10 percent survive? meaning that in poland after the shot after world war 2, there was still 350 that was in jews. and colon more choose a hole in the 1946 in the and then the u. k. today. where are they?

the vast majority of the polish to survivors let forward the 25 years after world war 2. if you wanted to feel safe saying the statement, i image you a couple 100000 left tens of thousands state, a small proportion, but still tens of thousands. who then had children and grandchildren many times, not even telling them till every jewish this deep dark family secret status, she could 50 years. $39.00 to $8989.00 full of communism. at which point the not so young survivors are confronted with the question. do i feel safe enough today to tell my children, grandchildren, feds, colleagues, neighbors that i'm really jewish since 1900. 89. we don't know how many, but since 1989, thousands and perhaps even some tens of thousands of polls have discovered they have choices. and that's the story of jewish colon today. how many jews that living

here in boston and in point right now? so i can say that without a doubt the number of jews that live in warsaw, poland. nobody knows. because of the fact that people are still discovering. i spoke last week in the small town, not famous. and they asked me very much to come. there was a group of intellectuals, they wanted to hear about judaism, said, you know, i'm also go to a small place. i get in the car, the person picking me up. and he turns to me, he says, you know, i'm also something like jewish. my great grandmother was jewish. my mother's mother's mother was jewish. so i looked at what i said, you know, you're not something like jewish. you aren't jewish. and so how many jews are there? and i don't know, but it's plus one. ah,

yes comes in here. nice part of the cemetery is where the resistance fighters of the 1942 also uprising a barrier to science here in phoenix. this is where the commander is buried, who died in 20091 can mark ableman on. he was a doctor and a hero. there's no, there's not any of the resistance. but also later in the solidarity moves now. solid, almost vague, mostly in the warsaw ghetto, has

a hero before, during and after the war. if you see him all these graves are a former comrades in arms, and there are lots of women among them to have a sugar. and what heart warming is that all the people who live here are clearly the jews that refused to be led like lambs to the slaughter. the famous thing goes, god, but alas, there still, they didn't know what was coming, but it just shows that they were people who stood up. thought, who took action, who, mustard and all the courage they could to defend the jewish people. it's very impressive . i think. i'm sorry, it happened more than people realize how they feel that the traditional story of the mac are based on how they stood up and fall back in the jews. and never given the credit they did. there was so many who stood up and defended themselves. all of those in the resistance of the partisans wanted to under communism. it's often forgotten how many jews were involved in mom. but edelman was also

a hero among polish people, and he's still well known today. thank this is a memorial for the fighters that the was to get uprising and in the center at the monument, nice motor car on your leverage, which he was the young leader of the uprising atlantic just a few weeks. but it was very often about how i use that was for us, very obvious that we don't want to focus only on holocaust. we never ever are daring to diminish this tragedy. but without showing 1000 years of reach civilization, culture, jewish life, it's kind of a you know, you are missing the whole context. first of all and that's our mission,

is to bring back the history and memory about jewish life and jewish culture. so we knew that we would like to make the story about 1000 years. by the way, the only museum of this kind, you can find in fact, in television, israel bait has fulfilled diaspora museum. but we decided this, we will focus on the history here in poland. and why did so many jews came to poland a 1000 years ago? well, they came in fact most may be 1000, but 800 years ago, there are few factors. first, the full rulers were encouraging jews to come here to settle to pay taxes. they became part of economical system. instead of rulers were giving protection to jewels so they can, they could feel safe here. please keep in mind that that's the moment, 1213th 14th century, when jews are expelled from western europe,

their expels from england from france, from spain, and they find here the shelter of their home. can you tell us something about food casa, and cinemas and colon forward? second, yes, sure. that was really the moment of kind of a golden age for jewish culture. please keep in mind that in poland before the war there were 3000300 jews who are living here were. so was the 2nd biggest jewish city apart from new york. and the jews discovered that they can have secular culture in earlier periods juice. basically their, their culture was very connected to religion. now they found that in dish their mama wash and their, their home language, it might be used for theaters for movies, for pieces, for books. so you have to please keep in mind. but for these 3000300 people, they were so interested in everything. so they were creating their own culture.

the ah ah, how good is a question is once happened and hungry in recent years, and what impact has it had on minority including jews out there is an undercurrent that goes way back. and the right part is that one created by having to all bob. but he can press the button at anytime. and i think that's the fear that many jewish people in europe have. i know that this power mechanism one i was just, he was lol yourself into a sense of security and someone can come along and change everything in an incident . like in germany with the f d rapp, call out of their whole, you put food in front of them. and that's exactly what's happening. that's the undercurrent wrong and hungry must have been preparing itself for that for a long time. surely they've always had an undercurrent of people,

maybe 15 to 20 percent or even more, for not only anti semitic, but also in the democratic who was strict leadership. and you really do see that in a lot of european countries that these people are totally doormats until they can come up to the surface and lot not only come with the facts. so just shows that the world is more complex and we tried to make some of the biggest anti semi saw also defenders of israel. so everything's changing a little. and as long as it's not anti jewish in any way, why shouldn't you be allowed to criticize israel's government? which incidentally made a pact with autobahn, meet all the ju, i should have that right? ah

ah the me the gone be so bad i'm

not doing you feel i you remember the preparations for your apartment? it wasn't all that is similar to this very laid back to do. this is standing the i use

ah, the the the the who did you did is to know we didn't do that in our country. that's something that's mainly done an orthodox community. interesting. that is being practiced here by liberal jewish families as ever it's only for boys,

girls are apparently so worthless and judaism you're right. equality is a big topic within today's jewish communities. and i have things change very soon. that's a very old tradition which is not returned to the tumblewood, but they are 100100 the years we do. there is a sentence in the, in the bible in that it's, it's very hard for me to, to translate in the, in the, in the bible to, to also edition the little boy like like a 3 and there and you know, we are not allowed that the rabbi stays and thursday, we are not allowed to work for the 1st 3 years to take the fruits from the, from the 3. so the compares somehow with the be the side. this is a boy that's v vi leaves his hair for 3 years. it's not because of

a tower, but we do believe that when he will be 3 years, or you'll be able to recognize the midst of all i'm putting this here. it's a symbol of mixture. look, i'm putting this around. you shut up the key, but now i'm going to put on your kip with fast food. and this is 124 and okay. 124. you know, put it in here. the ah

ah ah, i call the secretary much. i really do, if you ask me, who am i will take like this where i can go last to find the sample. it's like so it's so it's not heavy and it's like not to read but very true. so it's like a long we're lying away with this just seeing the arrow. and you have also typical jewish. ok? yes, i have my for example, and this is traditional hungaria cake and it's something like you dish and mom lies. you know, like other times they did that they want to make some cake for holiday to all the

stuff in degrees. if they went in the life popping up, who plumb jam and not for not how important if they knew the jewish influence, i think in every way. so one way this fluid me, which i ring the christmas pair and the big hungry and holidays is around because i keep it very important to people that know that people love it. and the other hand, i think everything i have in myself is something like this. lambda basically is it like how i do business? how i love to work, how i love to make cakes. so all my ideas came from hall was learn. i think it's of interest is better and just celebrating sure. but every car shabbots need there is a place where you are. it's not just like days are rolling and rolling in the end

of the day. you just be like, yes, want to be happens and i don't have so many time because you know, like i have visited to the and go i would go together finally like my husband. and in the days of us, everybody of my friends. some of them always invite you can come or come come. i can say much for some people, it's always like a table and it's very relaxed because you know that you will see them and we see each other and you can keep me giving every jewish person. we talk to him, budapest, and tell us it's a great place to live that there jews, but also hungarians at heart in equal measure. see how great everything is health,

antarctic life is here. it's very, we read non stop about or about interest semitism from the party. i feel like it doesn't really add up at the start, so it becomes that's just how it is when you actually go into these places, you get a much more varied perspectives. when you click on the outside perspective that we have from the media and perhaps doesn't correlate with what the people tell you. but maybe that just shows that the situation isn't black and white and it's neither right or wrong, or the great synagogue is this way. it's an exciting place for all of europe, really because it's a place that represents a modern debate about today. which direction should it go from y'all? should it open up, reform liber lie about it was built a 170 years ago. after much discussion of august, it's the neo liberal synagogue,

so not orthodox. it's the biggest synagogue in europe. the liberal camp has clearly prevailed with magnificent building. style. o, oh, oh. i work for most people, venice is a romantic city for us. jesus, it's the location of the 1st ghetto. it was here that the jewish population was 1st

separated and segregated. the venice later contributed significantly to the development of jewish intellectualism, for example, in reprinting and economic prowess. again, just like to be did you hear in the 16th century that despite all the difficulty, it was a very exciting time, jewish life, jewish printing economy and culture developed enormously and radiated out into europe. ah ah

ah, the me if you would see now a tooth reading of the 17th century, the get the would they have play this kind of music at the wedding? i believe so. absolutely. but what was special about the ghetto, of course, is probably if you went to a german jewish wedding, they would have german music with the little italian music put in if you went to a what they call the 11 teen jews. so from north africa, they went out of spain, sephardic tooth, and they ended up, they went to north africa, and then they ended up in venice. lane motor talks about their music,

their liturgical music being turkish founding. so i think they also their instrumental music. what have the interpret bouncing spanish the same for spanish and of course for italians and we're living in the ghetto at the time where the carnival and the committee of the last day was really starting. so that would have had an enormous influence as well on the instrumental music. ah, the ah, i think the, i think this journey has shown me that jewish communities are very diverse and vibrant in everyday life has been shaped not by foreign politics,

which is the impression that we always get. but my question was, how can we continue to live the jewish life? how can we establish ourselves? lots of jewish centers to being built with. people are trying to open new one about i feel that there's a lot of vitality that feels bitterly facing. i imagined it being very different. i come from berlin, where all our schools are guarded by police and israeli security. and i thought it probably be similar. another country, poland, for example, my parents are both holocaust survivors from poland. and there's been such positive progress in wars the loudest mandation has allowed them to build these new schools . there's a really young jewish life growing and flourishing and blossoming. there was such a surprising momentum. there were mentors service put up as an in budapest to

see how briefly they go about life and maintaining a jewish community of 60000 people. if you look at it from the outside, without going there might assume they're doing badly. that political situation is terrible today, and it is terrible, but they're making something of their own from it. if i don't just adapt to the regime, they had their own position and i know they're establishing jewish life there because they think it will along our lives. the regime regime links on the other hand, you have a big interest in medic, racist movement. that in certain circumstances can lead to jews either assimilating completely or leaving leave to where you wouldn't have had the free decision to leaving and they've just left. so there's nothing holding them back in an environment that marginalize is all threatened someone at least 2 examples of that on these trends in families and communities that are primarily concerned with day to day life and not with big politic and so cool thing

that is trying to establish a good life as best they can. and if they can't adjust to the community and vice versa, if the community and above all the politics can't keep them safe, then a employee leave here in venice in particular, you can see how everything's together. it's supposed to fall to juice, asked the lemon juice, and it's actually a good ending our journey in the get the older canto in europe. they know because it shows that time on the one hand you had exclusion and control. and on the other hand, you had protection that was about the sauce and began to hear with a wonderful cynical, with much better than many, many, altogether where there was radical exclusion at the gym. and it also reveals a picture that's much bigger than it was involved. maybe

you don't get to go all day in the ghetto. there are synagogues and the community offices repeated the call. you see i was born 100 meters from here and attended a jewish school here in the ghetto, east. nice. it was a small school with classes of student data. today from the community is very small, so i see some of the ways to bring the 1st person from my family arrived in 1500 form divvy. there was an old metal foundry, a tallying for foundry ghetto. so i thought that's where the word comes from. so to me, when the war between spain was france, austria and the holy seats,

a place against the troops arrived here and bennett, who he and the jews, he saw refuge and venice avenues. a mon operator, please. easier arrived in the early 1500 to lazy thought to me the venice resist in all the military efforts of spain, france, and austria, and the holy c mission. patricians decided to do god a favor and to build a ghetto and venice to keep the use here. it on a fairly good. so david, he's one of the key. the old ghetto was to control the jews who were considered foreigners. early in the from the mid 16 hundreds, another 5000 jews came here. which was the most there ever was. and will, after that you'll things slowly started to decline this on the see. many are there today, i'll say go for the 2nd world war. there were 1200 jews here. 204

were deported. and after the war there were 1000 gaily see me today. there are $400.00 of song compensate. you feel more anti semitism today than you used to was is not remote by they say no, i don't feel any anti semitism here. but of course there are problems with the conflict in the middle east. we all but relations here are fine market by that. i have nothing official talking about that, but it's not a problem in italy. well, legally, italy is a country of disorder. sometimes a bit chaos may dollar men, but for now the country is keeping the disorder under control and more more of the capacity that goes through lame and it is all in the whenever and here my heart just burst

yes, that's a very special atmosphere on a friday afternoon and the fan is scatter. and so it's nice that we're ending our journey here today. people prepare for shabbat and go to the synagogue, and then a dinner. ah, i'd normally be doing that right now to lighting candles with my family thing. the kid is, but i'm very happy to see how they do things here. ah, today you have to spend it with me. we've been invited along later, and we're meeting after the synagogue. ah, you have the feeling in many parts of europe, jewish, lightest, blooming and blossoming again, driving. but whether it will continue to develop this way in the future, it's hard to say, ah, if civil society continues to work to protect the fundamental rights of minorities

. and when they're threatened to stand up for them, then i'm not too worried about the future of judaism in europe. i go to the day on do b, o o, o, o o i lose

. ah, the weight back in time when football is exhausted and remote and now the presence is a matter of fact. also have snow in w me in december 2019 the european

council president showed me shows embarked on a ground breaking mission job to make sure the 1st time that i turned on the planet by 2015 but not all member states supported and some persuasion is required, a surprising glance into the very heart of power negotiations lines. the lettering incentives but best laid plans often go astray with the host of who will win the game of diplomatic poker. the entry power plays and the lines behind the scenes of the climate summit starts august 5th on

the news . this is the w news lived from berlin, france, and poses curb. so the non vaccinated the government avails new restrictions designed to boost inoculation uptake for help work and that means compulsory jobs or risk losing their job. also coming up drive through jobs. germany's flogging inoculation campaign is forcing a.