My maternal grandfather was among them as a gunnery sergeant. He was awarded an Iron Cross, for some reason, which did him absolutely no good later..
The German parliament voted unanimously on Thursday to allow rabbis back into Germany's armed forces so as to provide religious assistance to Jewish soldiers for the first time since Adolf Hitler...late Fuehrer of Germany, founder of the Third Reich, currently communing with his pals Himmler and Heydrich. He is reincarnated every few days as a politician somebody doesn't like...
rose to power, according to German newspaper Deutsche Welle (DW).
Until now, German soldiers were offered religious services with Christian military representatives alone.
German Defense Minister Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer announced the beginning of the procedure in December of 2019 as a move to combat growing antisemitism in the country.
Kramp-Karrenbauer additionally announced, after the parliament approved the decision, that she would be next attempted to allow imams and Christian orthodox priests to "perform similar chaplaincy roles," according to DW. Until now, the Christian military chaplains were only either Protestant or Catholic.
There are currently approximately 300 Jewish soldiers in the military in addition to the 3,000 Moslems and 90,000 Christians.
During the First World War, tens of thousands of Jews served in the Bundeswehr, including some rabbis. Among them was the prominent theologian Leo Baeck.
German Jewish Central Council President Josef Schuster said that it is "an important support for the democratic attitude of the soldiers" to allow rabbis back into the military.