"This is an extremely important event not only for the Church and for Germany, but also for the entire Jewish community. An event that will go down in history", said Paul Spiegel, chairman of the Central Committee of German Jews during a press conference in referring to the visit by Benedict XVI to the Synagogue in Cologne. It is an extremely important event for the German Jews, of whom 11 thousand died during World War II added Spiegel. I believe that the WYD is sending out several signals. Without the WYD we would not have had the Pope’s visit to the Synagogue. For this reason we are grateful to the Youth and we are grateful to Benedict XVI". Spiegel then said: "Having recalled the Christians’ roots is particularly important: it is an important signal to all those who still have prejudices against the Jews. I was impressed by the content and the form of the part of his speech where he referred to the Nazi crimes. The condemnation was without ifs and without buts". "I was struck by two things of the Pope’s speech said Abraham Lehrer, member of the Council of the Jewish community of Cologne, who asked the Pope to fully open the archives of the Vatican his invitation to dialogue, which is fundamental for the future, and his invitation to be always vigilant so as to avoid the resurgence of anti-Semitism".
