Refugee Crisis

As I am an immigrant in my new country - I moved from Germany to the US in 2000 and got my US-German dual citizenship in 2014 - I look over to my old country and can't believe the changes I see. What I had dreamed of and expected in vain from a progressive government, a Germany with a "culture of welcome" towards immigrants, has become a reality under the leadership of a conservative politician, Angela Merkel.

The other day I attended a reception at the German Consulate to celebrate the 30th Anniversary of Action Reconciliation's collaboration with Project Ezra, when a survivor of the Holocaust got up and stated that he wishes he could hug Angela Merkel and say to her personally "Thank you." For him, Germany's openness towards refugees from Syria and other countries symbolized a break with Germany's racist past. During the Holiday season my thoughts are with the new arrivals in Germany and I am for the first time in my life somewhat proud to be German.