Federal President Joachim Gauck has opened the Maccabi Games at which Jewish athletes from around the world will be competing.
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Joachim Gauck expressed his delight that the Games are being held for the first time ever in Berlin, partly "because this year we are celebrating the fiftieth anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Germany and Israel".
On Tuesday, in his capacity as patron of the Maccabi Games, Federal President Joachim Gauck officially opened Europe’s leading Jewish sporting event. Athletes from around the world will be competing in Berlin’s Olympic Park until 5 August. It is the first time in the 86-year-old history of the games that the event has been staged in Germany. The German government is supporting the Games. Cabinet ministers are acting as patrons of some of the 19 disciplines.
The athletes from throughout Europe and other parts of the world entered the Waldbühne for the ceremony, which got off to a good start with the German Muslim singer Adel Tawil (of Ich+Ich fame) who performed with the Jewish American artiste Matisyahu.
Before the opening ceremony a memorial event was held on the Maifeld (Mayfield) next to the Olympic Stadium. "I welcome more than 2,000 Jewish athletes who have come to Berlin from 36 countries," said Federal Minister of Justice Heiko Maas. "But in this country, and in this city, we cannot separate the joy of the present from the suffering of the past," he stressed in his speech. "The Olympic Stadium in Berlin should be a forum for fair play and international understanding, where it was once dominated by hatred, racism and anti-Semitism. This is where Jewish athletes were discriminated and humiliated."
Before the Games began, Chancellor Angela Merkel stressed the importance of the Games in a welcome. They strengthen the identity and the bonds within the Jewish community on the one hand. On the other they create a space for encounter and exchange between Jews and non-Jews. Both help foster international understanding, said the Chancellor.
Federal Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier welcomed the athletes most warmly to Berlin. The fact that Jewish athletes selected Berlin as the venue for the Games is not something that can be taken for granted 70 years after the Holocaust. "We are proud and grateful for the trust this demonstrates," he declared.
The 14th European Maccabi Games (EMG2015) are being staged in Germany for the first time in the history of the event. In Berlin’s Olympic Park, some 2,3000 Jewish athletes will be competing for medals in 19 disciplines from now until 5 August. The disciplines include badminton, swimming, football, bridge and chess. The European Maccabi Games are held once every four years in a different European city. Admission to all competitive events at the European Maccabi Games 2015 is completely free. The world championships, the Maccabiah, are held ever four years in Israel, always two years after the European Maccabi Games. The Maccabi movement emerged at the start of the 20th century in response to growing anti-Semitism.
Every discipline has a well-known patron, including Federal Defence Minister Ursula von der Leyen, patron for dressage, and Federal Minister of Justice Heiko Maas, who is triathlon patron.
Jérôme Boateng, German national football player and member of the German squad that won last year’s World Cup is patron of the EMG football tournament. He is proud that his home city is hosting this year’s EMG. People from all over the world will be supporting their teams this summer in Berlin’s Olympic Stadium. "As a result borders fall, including the borders in our heads," says Jérôme Boateng.
Alongside the German team, which is the largest, athletes from 36 European countries will be coming to Berlin to compete in 19 sporting disciplines. Spain, Ukraine, Finland and Italy have all sent their best Jewish athletes. Five guest delegations will also be participating including the USA, Israel and Australia.
South Africa too will be represented in Berlin as a guest delegation, much to the delight of Sarah Poewe, patron of the swimming events. The former German professional swimmer grew up in South Africa and was the first Jewish athlete to win an Olympic medal for Germany since 1936. "The fact that the European Maccabi Games are being held in Berlin for the first time on German soil makes me really happy and very emotional. The history of Berlin just highlights this event in a very unique way," she said.
Oren Osterer, head of the EMG2015 organisation committee is calmly confident: the world can look forward enthusiastically to the most important Jewish event on German soil since the end of the Second World War, with Jews and non-Jews together sending a strong signal for tolerance and respect.