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Munich Synagogue and Jewish Center Opens

Posted on: Thursday, 9 November 2006, 18:00 CST

Jewish leaders in Germany have opened the newly built Munich synagogue on the 68th anniversary of the Night of Broken Glass.

The synagogue, which is part of a Jewish Center that also contains a museum and a kindergarten, opened Thursday, exactly 68 years after the night that Nazi gangs vandalized and destroyed synagogues, Jewish shops and homes and beat many Jews to death, Deutsche Welle reported.

The facility is built near site of the Ohel Jakob synagogue, which was one of 1,000 Jewish places of worship that were destroyed during the riots.

The opening ceremony was expected to be attended by German President Horst Kohler, Jewish Council President Charlotte Knobloch and other German Jewish and civic leaders.

Historian Michael Brenner said the new Jewish Center could be part of a major renaissance for the Munich Jewish community.

I cannot say if the community will take advantage of this chance, Brenner said. But the chance is there and I believe that the creation of a visible center will allow the community to bid farewell to its backyard existence, so to speak, and arrive in the city center.

Source: United Press International

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