This is a response written by Abraham Fraenkel, the renowned Jewish mathematician, to the dean of the Christian Albrecht University of Kiel in Germany. In his letter, he outlined the reasons why he would not accept an offer to teach in Germany after the war.
Having referred to an unpleasant past experience with the university as one reason for declining the invitation, Fraenkel then wrote in the final paragraph:
I think it would be even from a purely objective point of view, an impossible idea for any Jew to live again in a country whose population – to a large extent actively and for the rest almost entirely passively – has been responsible for the extermination of more than five millions of Jews, the third part of my People, under conditions of cruelty not experienced for thousands of years. It would be intolerable to live among such a nation.
Fraenkel signed his name and added:
P.S. Appreciating your courtesy in attaching an English translation to your German letter. I attach this English translation of my reply written in our language, Hebrew.
This letter, written less than a year after the end of the war, provides us with insight into the mind-set of many Jews after the Holocaust. Abraham Fraenkel was one of the highest profile Jewish academics in the world at the time, and his stance, as a German Jew who had served his country during the First World War I and begun his academic career in Kiel, was significant.
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Abraham Fraenkel - Abraham Fraenkel (1891-1965) was a famous mathematician, born and educated in Germany. He was an ardent Zionist and moved to Israel in 1929, where he accepted a position at the newly-founded Hebrew University of Jerusalem. He later won the Israel Prize for his contributions to axiomatic set theory.
German Reparations Debate in Israel - The dispute over how to deal with the nascent state of West Germany became very fierce in 1952 when the State of Israel debated whether to sign a reparations agreement. Ben-Gurion, the then prime minister of Israel, argued that the agreement was necessary:
So that the murderers do not become the heirs as well.
The debate took place on 7 January 1952, and around 15,000 people rallied outside in opposition to any agreement with Germany. The agreement was eventually ratified, although the aftermath saw the Knesset debate disturbed for the first time in history and violent rallies followed the vote.
