Jewish Academy opens in Frankfurt as Steinmeier urges protection of Jewish life

German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier joined Jewish leaders on Monday in inaugurating the Jewish Academy in Frankfurt, an institution the Central Council of Jews in Germany describes as the country’s first supraregional, non-university Jewish educational institution established since the Holocaust.

The academy, an institution of the Central Council, will promote Jewish education and dialogue, with programming open to Jews and non-Jews.

Yad Vashem has also announced plans to open a Holocaust education center in Germany.

“In the struggle for power, the protection of Jewish life must never become a political bargaining chip,” Steinmeier said.

He also warned that “antisemitism must not be allowed to influence government work anywhere in Germany.”

“Hatred of Jews remains hatred of Jews, regardless of which side it comes from or what motives drive it,” Steinmeier said, urging Germans to stand alongside Jews in everyday life.

Steinmeier has previously urged Germans to confront antisemitism, including at a 2022 Hanukkah ceremony in Berlin.

Turning to Israel, he distinguished criticism of government policy from antisemitism.

“But anyone who uses this criticism as a vehicle to deny the Jewish community in Israel, or even the State of Israel, the right to exist, or to call for violence, has crossed the line into hatred of Jews,” he said.

The European Jewish Congress welcomed the opening in a Tuesday post on X, calling it “a historic milestone for Jewish life in Germany.”

“At a time of rising antisemitism, the Academy sends a powerful message: Jewish life in Germany is not only about preserving the memory of the past, but also about building a vibrant and inclusive future,” the organization wrote.

Rabbi Menachem Margolin, chairman of the Brussels-based European Jewish Association, also welcomed the opening in a Tuesday post on X.

“President Steinmeier is right: the protection of Jewish life must never be a bargaining chip,” Margolin wrote. “Germany is not only remembering Jewish life. It is building it again.”