Daring the Future

"Daring the Future" is a brief history of the Central Council of Jews in Germany-the umbrella organization of Jewish communities in Germany. Founded in 1950, the Central Council has represented the interests of the Jewish population in a country in which the very existence of a Jewish community was not self-evident after the Holocaust. The development of the Central Council is closely intertwined with the development of the Jews in Germany since the Second World War, a development which was never simple and not always easy. Yet, from a group of survivors, often ridden with guilt for having remained in the country of the perpetrators, the Jewish minority has developed, over the years into a self-confident population, increasingly integrating into the wider society. After German reunification in 1990, an influx of Jewish refugees from the former Soviet Union dramatically transformed the Jewish community, strengthening it an leading to a remarkable Jewish renaissance. At all stages, the Central Council has played a crucial role, evolving into a modern, dynamic and proactive institution whose voice is heard well beyond the Jewish community and is respected in Germany's social, intellectual and political life.