Post-WWII Germany's first Jewish cabinet member on past lessons, new risks

Karin Prien connected confronting emergence of antisemitism

Post-WWII Germany's archetypal Jewish furniture subordinate connected uncovering her "political voice," facing the past 06:01

Berlin — When Karin Prien's parent brought her to Germany arsenic a small miss successful the precocious 1960s, she gave her 1 urgent warning: "Don't archer anyone you're Jewish."

Nearly six decades later, Prien is present station World War II Germany's archetypal Jewish national furniture member, having been selected arsenic the Minister for Education, Family Affairs, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth. 

Prien told CBS News she intends to usage her level to face the emergence of antisemitism successful Germany and further afield, and the fragility of ideology successful a state inactive reckoning with its past.

"Well, successful a way, I'm proud," the curate told CBS News successful a candid interview. "Proud to beryllium a curate successful the national government, but besides that I'm recognized arsenic Jewish and that German nine is present truthful acold [advanced] arsenic to judge that Jewish radical person a close to beryllium a self-conscious portion of this society."

Prien's governmental career, and her idiosyncratic story, correspond an arc of conflict, hostility and reconciliation that echoes that of post-Holocaust Germany itself.

Karin Prien, Germany's national curate for Education, Family Affairs, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth. Christoph Soeder/picture confederation via Getty Images

"A question of responsibility"

Born successful the Netherlands to Holocaust survivors, Prien moved to Germany astatine the property of 4. Even arsenic a child, she was heavy alert of the soundlessness surrounding her family's identity. Her mother's informing that it was inactive excessively unsafe to speech astir being Jewish — much than 2 decades aft the warfare ended — shaped her aboriginal years.

"There was ever fear. My parent was acrophobic that determination were excessively galore Nazis inactive around," Prien said. "It wasn't taken for granted that you could speech astir being Jewish. It was thing you kept wrong the home."

But that soundlessness yet became intolerable. As a young teen, she said she began to recognize that the antiauthoritarian values she cherished — freedom, quality dignity, anti-discrimination—- required defending. 

"I decided, 'I person to bash thing astir it. Democracy is not thing you tin instrumentality for granted,'" she said.

But Prien inactive waited decades earlier publically acknowledging her Jewish identity. 

The turning constituent came successful the aboriginal 2010s, erstwhile she was already a subordinate of authorities parliament successful Hamburg. Prien began pushing for systematic documentation of antisemitic incidents successful schools. When a writer asked wherefore the contented mattered truthful overmuch to her, she paused and past told him: "Because I'm Jewish."

"That was the infinitesimal I realized I had a governmental voice," she recalled. "I had immoderate benignant of influence. And for me, it was a question of responsibility."

Lessons from the past for the threats of today

That consciousness of work weighs heavy connected Prien successful today's Germany, wherever she said antisemitism is nary longer confined to the governmental fringes.

"We spot rising antisemitism each implicit the world," Prien said. "They situation to beryllium openly antisemitic. I deliberation it's present much than aft the extremity of World War II. They situation to beryllium openly antisemitic, and that's also successful Germany getting stronger and stronger. That has changed. And truthful we person antisemitic tendencies connected the margins, but we besides person it successful the mediate of society."

While Germany erstwhile appeared to beryllium a exemplary of humanities reckoning, Prien said she fears complacency is mounting in. 

After immoderate "honest decades," during which Prien says Germans confronted themselves with the stark realities of their country's history, "now, people are dying. And present we person to find caller ways to speech astir that."

Prien thinks that should see a displacement successful Holocaust education. She wants German schools to grow from their existent absorption connected the atrocities of World War II to besides thatch the past of Israel, the taste contributions of Jewish Germans, and the origins of antisemitism. 

"Jewish individuality is portion of German identity," she told CBS News. "Young radical request to cognize that Jews are not lone victims. Jewish radical are diverse. They person a voice. They are portion of this society."

Prien said she draws inspiration from figures including Margot Friedländer, a Holocaust subsister who famously coined the phrase: "Be Human." 

That, Prien said, should beryllium the instauration of immoderate acquisition strategy successful a democracy: teaching empathy and quality dignity.

But it's not lone humanities facts and cosmopolitan dignity that request defending, she said, it's besides Germany's antiauthoritarian fabric. 

"We are an migration society," Prien said. "But we're not precise bully astatine having just and adjacent chances for children who commencement with much hard conditions." 

She sees acquisition equity and nationalist antiauthoritarian resilience arsenic intrinsically linked.

Prien is present starring efforts to bounds mobile telephone usage successful German simple schools, informing that parents and policymakers person been excessively naive astir the risks of integer vulnerability for young people.

"We are anxious astir the existent world. We thrust our kids to schoolhouse and into the classrooms but we are not anxious astir the worldly online," she said. "That has to change."

Asked what connection she has for young Jews with governmental ambitions successful Germany today, Prien didn't hesitate: "Stay. Don't battalion your luggage. This is simply a antithetic Germany. This is simply a state wherever you tin unrecorded safely. And it's our occupation to marque that committedness existent each day."

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