” “At 12, Benedict XVI will arrive at the Synagogue and will be welcomed by the Rabbi and by the three presidents of the Jewish Community. Before speaking, the Pope will go to the first floor, which hosts the Memory Hall, which commemorates the 6 million victims of Nazism, including 11 thousand victims from Cologne.
” “The ceremony will include a welcome chorus, the reading of the Genesis 1,27-31(creation of man and woman, and entrusting the earth to both) in Hebrew, the playing of the horn, the Presidents’ address on behalf of the community, the address of rabbi Netanel Teitelbaum, the Pope’s speech, the "Ssim Shalom" blessing (Aaron’s "Give peace"), the exchange of gifts.
The Jewish Community of Cologne is the oldest in Germany and in Central-Northern Europe. In 1933, as many as 20 thousand Jews already lived in the Rhine city, over 11 thousand were killed by the Nazis. A new community was founded in 1945 and now has 4 thousand members. The Synagogue, destroyed by the Nazis in 1938 during the ‘Night of the Crystals’, was rebuilt in 1959 with the aid of the Christian community.
