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CONTINUING JEWISH EMIGRATION FROM FSU TO GERMANY Germany's Jewish population currently numbers 150,000, of which 90,000 are registered with the organized Jewish community. Thirty thousand members of the community are veteran German Jews, and the rest are Jewish immigrants from the FSU who have arrived in Germany over the last decade. These findings appear in a special report prepared by Amos Lahat, Head of the Jewish Agency's FSU Department, who toured Germany at the beginning of the month. The report also shows that Jewish immigrants from the FSU account for a sizeable proportion of the overall community of both Jewish and non-Jewish immigrants from the FSU living in Germany, now numbering 1,200,000 who are spread out, mainly in the east of the country. The Jewish communities in Germany receive substantial support from the local governments. For example, the community in Berlin alone receives municipal support amounting to DM 47 million annually. According to Lahat, most of the leaders of the Jewish organizations belong to the veteran part of the community, but there is already evidence that the leadership is passing to the hands of immigrants from the FSU. However, the Jewish community only accepts new members who are halachically defined as Jews, so that many immigrants from the FSU remain outside the framework of the community and are not entitled to the welfare services it provides. The immigrant Jewish community in Germany is already one of the largest in Europe, similar in size to Hungary's community. According to Lahat, this community will grow during the next ten years and probably even double in size. Lahat believes that the Jewish Agency should spread its activities among Jewish immigrants from the FSU in Germany, particularly among the younger generation. Using experience and material developed by the Jewish Agency through its work in the FSU."
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