As young people of this generation are often reminded, we should appreciate speaking to survivors of the Holocaust while they are still around. While it may be common for people to know about the Holocaust from their history classes over the years, there are those of us who are fortunate enough to have heard first-hand accounts from Holocaust survivors. One of those survivors, Ernst Cramer, a Jewish German journalist died today in Berlin from cardiac issues.
96-year-old Cramer spent several weeks at Buchenwald concentration camp. However, after being released under special conditions to leave Germany, he actually fled to act as an American soldier with his sister. Unfortunately, he later found out that many of his other relatives died in Nazi Germany.
Cramer’s dedication to establishing better ties between Germany and Jews, particularly with Israel was overwhelming. Cramer worked for Springer publishing in Germany at various levels, including as chairman of the foundation. Though he did not become a journalist until post WWII, according to many sources Cramer is one of the few journalists who did such in-depth reporting on the German-Israeli ties, as well as with the US.
In this case, it is notable that Cramer embraced his Jewish-German roots even as a young adult. In 1933, just when the Nazis were gaining power, Cramer started a group called the Alliance of German-Jewish Youth. Fortunately, future generations have Cramer’s influence to look back on and admire. Just before his death Cramer set up a scholarship program for young people to explore German-Israeli journalism. Not only will this program encourage people to research this relationship between Germany and Israel, but it will also strengthen it.
Additionally, I was somewhat excited to see David Harris’, executive director of the American Jewish Committee, reaction to Cramer’s death here. This is due to the fact that I interned at AJC last summer and had the opportunity to meet with interns from the German consulate and to see Jewish-German relations in action. Thanks to determined folks like Ernst Cramer, this relationship has certainly come a far way. While many Jewish advocates mourned Cramer, his inspiration and influence will last far into the future.
Finally, let’s learn from the deaths of great figures like Ernst Cramer that we should seriously take time to learn from the elderly who have experienced such different escapades than us while they are still around and able to recite their stories.
