Overview

• Karin Prien, Germany's new Federal Minister for Education and Family, has publicly embraced her Jewish heritage, marking a significant moment in the nation's political landscape.
• Prien's family suffered persecution under the Nazis, with multiple relatives murdered in Auschwitz and Theresienstadt during the Holocaust.
• She has pledged to integrate Jewish history and culture into her ministerial agenda, seeking to shift the narrative from victimhood to celebrating Jewish contributions to German identity.
• Prien emphasized the importance of recognizing how Jewish culture, thought, and art have shaped Germany's identity, while also addressing ongoing issues like antisemitism.
• Born in Amsterdam and raised in Neuwied, Rhineland-Palatinate, Prien acknowledges her mother's past reluctance to disclose their Jewish roots, reflecting lingering societal tensions in post-Holocaust Germany.