Leo Baeck Medal for Steinmeier: “Great honor” and “deep humility”

Status: 11/19/2021 02:25 a.m.

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“With great moral clarity” – Federal President Steinmeier was awarded the Leo Baeck Medal in New York for his commitment to Jewish life in Germany. He emphasized the “miracle of reconciliation”.

Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier was awarded the Leo Baeck Medal in New York. In his acceptance speech, the German head of state said: “We must not tolerate anti-Semitism in Germany!” He will continue to fight for this, as head of state and as a person. “Only when Jews are completely at home in Germany and feel completely safe, only then is Germany completely at home.” The award was a “great honor” and filled him with “deep humility,” said Steinmeier

Steinmeier was honored by the Leo Baeck Institute for his long-term commitment to the preservation and promotion of Jewish life in Germany. The laudation was given by the President of the World Jewish Congress, Ronald Stephen Lauder. “At a time when too many world leaders are silent, there is a man who speaks clearly and with great moral clarity – and that is you, Mr President,” he said.

Previous winners have included Federal Chancellor Angela Merkel, former Federal Presidents Johannes Rau and Joachim Gauck, and former Federal Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer.

“Miracle of reconciliation”

Steinmeier expressed his gratitude for the “miracle of reconciliation” that Germany had received after the Second World War. “This miracle was not a gift from heaven – it was a gift from humans!” He emphasized.

He remembered the namesake of the award, the liberal Rabbi Leo Baeck (1873-1956), who saw little chance for Jewish life in Germany shortly after the end of the war. “So much murder, robbery and looting, so much blood and tears and graves can no longer be wiped out,” Baeck once said.

Because of his social and political commitment, Baeck has become a role model for the Jewish religious community. The Research Institute for German-Jewish History, headquartered in New York, has awarded the medal annually since 1979 to personalities who have made a special contribution to the common German-Jewish culture.