Jewish East Berlin Meets Jewish West Berlin

Simon and Nachama grew up in the small Jewish communities of East and West Berlin, respectively, helped shape these communities, and first met in 1983.

Hermann Simon (*1949) was born and raised in East Berlin and was the founding director of the Stiftung Neue Synagoge Berlin – Centrum Judaicum. Andreas Nachama (*1951) was born and raised in West Berlin and served for many years as director of the Topography of Terror Foundation.

Simon’s father fled Germany after the November Pogroms and returned as a British soldier. Nachama’s adoptive father was Estrongo Nachama, Berlin’s chief cantor. Both Simon’s and Nachama’s mothers survived the Nazi dictatorship in hiding in Berlin.

As eyewitnesses to Jewish life in both divided and reunified Berlin, they look back and share their memories.

Host: Shelly Kupferberg