Charlotte Knobloch, the vice-president of the World Jewish Congress and outgoing head of the German Jewish umbrella organization, has been awarded with her country’s highest civilian honor. At a ceremony in Berlin and in the presence of his predecessor Horst Köhler, German President Christian Wulff presented Knobloch with the Grand Cross of the Federal Order of Merit with a Star and praised her as "a woman of whom our entire country can be proud.”
Knobloch, 78, from Munich survived the Holocaust as a child, hiding with a Christian family in Bavaria. She held several leading positions in the Jewish community since the 1980s, and took over from Paul Spiegel as the president of the Central Council of Jews in Germany in 2006. Her successor will be elected next week. "With the departure of Charlotte Knobloch, the last eyewitness will be leaving the presidential office at the Central Council of Jews. That is a break with history in German Jewish culture," Wulff said in his speech honoring Knobloch. "But this change will not mean that the past will be forgotten. We all well know the obligations we have, not just to the victims, but also to our future generation."
Wulff told Knobloch in the ceremony that the Grand Cross of the Federal Order of Merit with a Star symbolized Germany's enduring gratitude for her life's work. Knobloch played a key role in welcoming Jews from the former Soviet Union countries who came to Germany after the end of Communism. They now make up the bulk of the country's Jewish population, which numbers approximately 120,000.
