According to the Israeli newspaper Haaretz , Finance Minister Yuval Steinitz will demand between 450 million to 1 billion euros in reparations from Germany on behalf of Jews forced into slave labor during the Holocaust, it emerged on Sunday.
Regardless of the question of what qualifies an Israeli minister to demand money on ”behalf of Jews” or even Israeli Jews, I wonder whether it is symbolic that this happens in the same week as Auschwitz’ entrance sign was stolen.
For those who fail to remember, the Auschwitz sign says ‘Work Liberates’ (Arbeit macht frei). Clearly, as far as Minister Steinitz is concerned, it is actually Schnor * that sets him free.
*To schnor- to beg (Yiddish)