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Some known and unknown Pioneers of Continental Europe
Hedwig Wahle

 

To write an article on the pioneers in Europe is quite a challenge. One could certainly fill several pages just by enumerating them. Thus it is necessary to make a choice. My choice is certainly marked at least in part by my personal experience, however I have also tried to apply a few objective criteria: I want to present pioneers of as many countries as possible, although I am conscious of leaving out such important ones as Belgium, Luxembourg and Sweden. On the other hand I would like to feature some of the lesser known pioneers, of whom there are many. But also in respect of the better known ones I would like, above all, to recall those aspects which have been forgotten or are little known.

PROPOSALS FOR VATICAN II

For the Catholic Church the official dialogue started with Pope John XXIII and the Second Vatican Council. However this opening would not have been possible without prior initiatives.

Msgr. Ramselaar (1899 - 1981)1

Among the pioneers of the 1950s was one of the founders of SIDIC,2 Msgr. Antonius C. Ramselaar who, already in 1949 published an article entitled: "The Mystery of Israel". Other articles were published in 1951, including one on the importance of Israel for Ecumenism and its permanent role in God's plan of salvation.

Antonius Cornelis Ramselaar was born in Amersfoort on September 4, 1899. After his ordination in 1922 and several years as curate he studied music in Rome while staying with the Canons of the Holy Cross on the Aventine. This was precisely the period when Father van Asseldonk3 was also on the Aventine. Did they meet? and did this have an influence on Msgr. Ramselaar? Back in Holland he was again a curate and in 1936 was appointed chaplain of the Catholic scouts. From 1945 to 1964 he was president of the minor seminary of Apeldoorn. What characterised Toon Ramselaar, as his friends called him, was to be "pastor", to be there for others.

He was always on the look-out for new ways within the Church and was thus a prophetic figure. He devoted the last 20 years of his life entirely to the dialogue between Jews and Christians. It is thus thanks to him and with the support of professor Willebrands, president of the St.Willibrord association, and of Anna de Waal that the Katholieke Raad voor Israel of the Netherlands was founded in 1951. In 1958 the first issue of Christus en Israel, the review of the Raad, was published, which focuses on liturgy and theology.

Also in 1958 A.Ramselaar, at the suggestion of Ottilie Schwarz, convened an international Catholic Symposium in Apeldoorn (Netherlands).

Ottilie Schwarz was Austrian. Daughter of a Jewish father but baptised in the Reformed Church she had fled to Holland where she was secretary to Msgr. Willebrands for many years. In a book on the Mystery of Israel she showed that this theme has its roots in the works of Jacques Maritain and Charles Péguy, who had both been influenced by Léon Bloy.

Apart from the organisers the following participated in the first meeting in Apeldoorn: Abbot Leo Rudloff (Jerusalem), F.Cantera Burgos (Spain), Paul Démann of the Fathers of Sion (Paris), Karl Thieme and Gertrud Luckner (Germany), Irene Marinoff as representative of the Sisters of Sion (London), John Oesterreicher (Seton Hall, USA). At the second symposium there was also Father Jean Roger (Jerusalem). The symposium signified a world-wide breakthrough towards a new theology of Judaism.

When Pope John XXIII announced the Ecumenical Council in January 1959 and later requested a declaration on the Catholic Church's relations hip with Judaism, the members of the Raad considered of sending a memorandum to Cardinal Tisserand, to ensure that Judaism not be forgotten at the Council. Msgr. Ramselaar travelled through Europe and Israel in order to gather as much information as possible for the preparation of a council declaration. He convened a second international symposium at Apeldoorn from August 20 to September 1, 1960 during which the participants prepared a detailed document on Jewish-Christian relations which was sent to Cardinal Bea4 and to the preparatory commission in Rome. This document contained eleven points in view of preaching and catechesis concerning Judaism. Although these theses were not incorporated into the conciliar document many of the points mentioned are reflected in the "Notes on the correct way to present the Jews and Judaism in preaching and catechesis in the Roman Catholic Church" of 1985.

In 1967, Msgr.Ramselaar, who had been a peritus of the Council, convened a third symposium, this time in Strasbourg. The Apeldoorn symposia stimulated study and interest and no doubt considerably contributed to a new consciousness of the deep, dialogical links between Jews and Christians. They were also an opportunity for some important pioneers in the dialogue such as Msgr. John Oesterreicher, Karl Thieme, Paul Démann, Bruno Hussar and Josef Stiassny, to meet.

Msgr. Ramselaar received the Buber-Rosenzweig Medal on March 12, 1972 in acknowledgment of his work. The same year he became president of the ICCJ for two years and handed over the presidency of the Katholieke Raad voor Israel to his successor, Theo de Kruif.

He died in Holland on the 2nd January 1981 after a life devoted to the promotion of the friendship between Jews and Christians.


Jules Isaac (1877-1963)

Msgr. Ramselaar was not the only one to present a document to the Vatican Council. Better known are probably Jules Isaac's theses enumerating the means for redressing Christian teaching.

But who was Jules Isaac? Born in France in 1877, Isaac obtained a degree in History and Geography in 1902 and was professor for over 30 years.5 A fighter by nature with an intense thirst for truth, he was strongly influenced by Péguy from the moment they first met in 1897. He fought the accusers of Dreyfus, not because Dreyfus was a Jew, but in pursuit of justice and truth. In 1936 he was appointed Inspector General of Public Education. However it was his history text books that made him famous.

His interest in the historical problem of Christian anti-semitism began at the end of 1942. In October 1943 the Gestapo arrested his daughter, son-in-law, one of his sons and his wife. He alone escaped through an extraordinary piece of luck. Though his son escaped the other three never returned. His wife, however, succeeded in conveying a last message to him: "Finish the work which the world is waiting for from you." This referred to the editing of his book "Jesus and Israel" in which his wife had shown much interest from the outset.

In spite of having to continually flee and in village presbyteries, he continued to work on this book which he completed after the war in 1947 and which was published in 1948.6

In August 1947 an Emergency Conference on Anti-semitism was convened by an Anglo-American committee at Seelisberg in Switzerland. At this conference the Christian participants of the Commission on The task of the Churches in fighting against anti-semitism formulated the famous Ten Points of Seelisberg, taking as a starting-point Jules Isaac's eighteen theses which he and Rabbi Joseph Kaplan proposed for the discussion.7 The members of this commission were: Father Calliste Lopinot (Rome), Miroslav Novak, bishop of the Czech Church, Dr. E.L.Allen, Professor Dr. E. Bickel, Miss Madeleine Davy, Father Paul Démann, Pastor A. Freudenberg, Professor Jules Isaac, Abbé Journet, Rabbi Joseph Kaplan, Father de Menasce, Dr. A.Newlin, Rabbi W.Rosenblum, Rev. Robert Smith and Rabbi Zwi Chaim Taubes. Among the 60 participants of the Seelisberg Conference were also the Chief Rabbi Alexander Safran of Rumania and Bill Simpson (England). Jacques Maritain, French Ambassador to the Holy See, sent a letter disowning anti-semitism in the name of the Christian faith.

Jules Isaac was a man of action who fought for the truth. In 1960 he went to see Pope John XXIII in order to present him with his book. He had previously had an audience with Pius XII in 1949 when he called the Pope's attention to the prayer of intercession on Good Friday. In his diary he describes his stay in Rome and the warm reception he received from Pope John XXIII at the audience on 13th June 1960.8

He suggested to the Pope the creation of a sub-commission to study the necessary correction of Christian teaching. Encouraged by the very positive reception he received from the Pope, he was confirmed in his hopes by Cardinal Bea with whom he had a meeting two days later. As we know, a sub-commission was in fact created.

In order to develop interest for mutual understanding among Christians and Jews, Jules Isaac also invested much energy in the field of Christian religious education on an international level,. With this in view he founded the first group of the Amitié Judéo-chrétienne de France at Aix-en-Provence, whilst Edmond Fleg created the group in Paris. Jules Isaac also drew up the statutes of the Amitié Judéo-chrétienne de France and was president of this association for many years.

It is also thanks to his inspiration that the Amicizia Ebraico-cristiana di Firenze came into existence in 1950. Among the founding members were: Aldo Neppi Modona, Giorgio La Pira, Ines Zilli Gay, Angelo Orvieto, Arrigo Levasti, Raffaele Ciampini, Giacomo Devoto, Raffaello Del Re and Lina Trigona. From 1951 on the Amicizia published a Bollettino. On May 3, 1964 the association organised an important commemorative celebration in honour of Jules Isaac who died in Aix-en-Provence on September 5, 1963.

Franz Rödel (1891-1969)

Although Franz Rödel, unlike Jules Isaac, is practically unknown, yet he too presented a memorandum to the Pope in view of a Council declaration. Born in 1891, Franz Rödel was ordained priest in 1918 and died in 1969.

The inner political anti-semitic trends of the 1920's affected him deeply. In 1922 he became member of the Verein zur Abwehr des Antisemitismus in Deutschland (Association to combat anti-semitism in Germany) and from then on actively fought anti-semitism through conferences and articles. He also began collecting both anti-semitic publications and such as were well-intentioned towards the Jews. This collection became the library of the Institutum Judaeologicum Catholicum which was founded in 1959 in Jetzendorf (Germany).

During the Nazi period Franz Rödel continued his research and immediately afterwards again spoke out in favour of the Jews. He edited a periodical: Wahrheit und Liebe (Truth and Love), an information service on Judaism and the Jewish question for teachers in all types of schools. He also addressed a ten-page memorandum to the Pope and the Council Fathers "as a contribution to the constitution Church and Judaism within the context of the Second Vatican Council".

This memorandum shows what Jews and Christians have in common, exposes the anti-semitism resulting from Passion story interpretations and makes some practical suggestions.

In 1966 the Institute moved to Munich and after the death of Franz Rödel in 1969 was directed by Ingeborg von Werthern until its dissolution in 1977. The greater part of the library went to the Martin-Buber-House in Heppenheim, a smaller part to the Jesuits in Cracow. About a year ago an Institute of Jewish Studies was erected at the University of Munich which continues the tradition of the Institute of Franz Rödel.

PUBLICATIONS COUNTERING ANTI-SEMITISM AND PROMOTING DIALOGUE

One of the most important means of changing the "teaching of contempt" to one of esteem and of furthering dialogue has certainly been the publication of periodicals. In this context several Catholic undertakings to spread a better understanding of Judaism should be mentioned.

Amici Israel

A very interesting but unfortunately short-lived enterprise, lasting only from 1926 to 1928, was the Amici Israel (Friends of Israel). This association was founded in Rome in 1926 by Anton van Asseldonk (1892-1973), General Bursar of the Canons of the Holy Cross9, and Francisca (Sophie) van Leer (1892-1953), a Dutch Jewess who became a Christian.

Born in 1892, Sophie lived a very turbulent and revolutionary life. She was in turn a Zionist, a communist, then after trying her vocation as a religious she married and had a daughter. Baptised in the Catholic Church in Munich on June 15, 1919 she took the baptismal name of Francisca. After a trip to Palestine she went to Rome where she met Father van Asseldonk. Together they fought anti-Jewish prejudices, promoting understanding of Israel and recognition of the role which according to Scripture the Jewish people still have today.

Although the Amici had the missionary foundation of praying for the conversion of the Jews, it nevertheless offered a unique program addressing the fundamental problems of theological anti-semitism. The program was explained in a series of leaflets called Pax super Israel. However the Church was not yet ready for this initiative and in spite of its rapid development - soon counting 19 cardinals, 278 bishops and 3000 priests from all parts of the world amongst its members - it was considered erroneous and condemned on March 25, 1928. However anti-semitism was condemned at the same time.10

Following the dissolution of the Amici, Father van Asseldonk was sent by his superiors to Java where he wrote a history of his Order. In 1966 he went to Vienna, where he met Ottilia Schwarz who had returned to Vienna in 1958. He died in Vienna in 1973 whilst Francisca van Leer returned to Holland where she died in 1953.

Freiburger Rundbrief

For most of the earliest pioneers their personal experience of the years of the Shoah and of the birth of the State of Israel served as the starting point of their relationship with the Jewish people.

This is certainly true for Dr. Gertrud Luckner of Freiburg in Germany, one of the most famous rescuers of this period. Dr. Luckner was born on September 26, 1900. After studying Economics and Sociology she began working for the German Caritas (Catholic Charities) in 1938. First on her own initiative then mandated by the German bishops, she had special concern for the Jews persecuted by the national-socialists.

After the outbreak of the war she helped the Jews not only in Freiburg but also in Munich, collaborating in this with Rabbi Leo Baeck and the social worker Else Rosenfeld. Her success was partly due to her personality and partly to the fact that she did not have an organisation behind her. She brought personal help to individuals in ways which varied with each case and each day. She was thus a mystery to the Gestapo. In spite of this, they arrested her in the train on March 24, 1943 on one of her numerous business trips to Berlin. After several months in custody she was sent to the Ravensbrück Concentration Camp.

As soon as she was liberated from the camp in 1945 she began to work for dialogue with the Jews by assuming the responsibility for the "Office for refugees, victims of national-socialism," within the German Caritas. In 1948 she began publishing the Freiburger Rundbrief. Beiträge zur christlich-jüdischen Verständigung (Freiburg Newsletter. Contributions to Christian-Jewish Understanding) which contained a wealth of information, for she herself participated in numerous conferences, taping them so as to be able to publish them in full.11

She was the first German woman officially invited by the State of Israel. Her great love for Israel is evident in her October 1957 Rundbrief appeal for donations for Israel's mentally ill and in her active part in the establishment of a house for elderly people in Israel a few years later. She died in Freiburg on August 31, 1995.

One of the co-founders of the Freiburger Rundbrief was Karl Thieme. At the German Katholikentag of 1948 he spoke on the Jewish Question and in 1961, with Wolf-Dieter Marsch, he published the book: Christen und Juden. Ihr Gegenüber vom Apostelkonzil bis heute (Christians and Jews. Their Confrontation from the Assembly of the Apostles until Today) which contained contributions by Jews, Protestants and Catholics.

Among the collaborators of the Freiburger Rundbrief I would like to mention Hans Lamm and Rabbi Robert R.Geis. Hans Lamm12 was born on June 8, 1913 in Munich. He emigrated to the United States but returned to Germany after the war. He taught about Judaism, publishing numerous books and articles. For years he was president of the Jewish community of Munich and executive member of the Deutscher Koordinierungsrat. In 1967 he received the Joseph-E.-Drexel prize for his work to improve mutual understanding between Jews and Christians. He died in Munich on April 23, 1985.

Rabbi Robert Raphael Geis (4.7.1906 - 18.5.1972)13 studied in Breslau, taught in Munich and Kassel, then emigrated to Palestine in 1939. In 1946 he returned to Europe, first to Holland then to Switzerland (Zürich). Finally in 1952 he accepted an invitation to return to Germany as Rabbi in Baden, a post he occupied until 1956. He explained: "It was for my Christian friends that I returned, because I did not want to leave them on their own. It seems to me quite important that Judaism should be lived in Germany by some people..." Extremely active in the dialogue, especially during the Kirchentage of the Protestant Church, he gave talks and courses and spoke in schools and universities, and published works to help provide a better understanding of Judaism.

Cahiers Sioniens

Among the many publications promoting Christian-Jewish Dialogue the Cahiers Sioniens (1947-1955) should at least be mentioned, with special reference to Renée Bloch and Paul Démann of the Fathers of Sion. Their work was later continued by Kurt Hruby.14

Encounter Today

Sr. Marie-Thérèse Hoch, among the first to publish reviews in view of Christian-Jewish dialogue, was born in 1906 in Alsace. In her childhood she had experienced the political changes of the region: German territory at her birth and later returning to France. After acquiring a University Degree in Arts from Strasbourg University and spending two years in England, she entered the novitiate of the Sisters of Sion in Paris in 1927.

Her main activity was teaching until a new phase in her life began in 1954 when she opened a Catholic Information Centre on Jewish-Christian Relations in London where she offered a three-year correspondence course on "A Catholic Study of Judaism". From 1955 until 1979 she edited reviews in English, beginning with the "Sionian Digest" which two years later became "The Jews and Ourselves". That the change of name signified a change of outlook became even more apparent in 1966 when the name became "Encounter Today". Marie-Thérèse connected this change in name to the change in the Church through Vatican II. Thus "Today" recalls the aggiornamento initiated by Pope John XXIII.

In 1958 Marie-Thérèse returned to Paris where she continued to edit her publications. She participated in many national and international sessions, especially of the ICCJ, and wrote articles in numerous journals. Moreover, having collected an enormous amount of material, documentation and books, she was able to provide information on many subjects pertinent to Christian-Jewish relations. Together with Father Bernard Dupuy she published the Church documentation on the relationship with the Jews.15 She died in Paris in 1994.

Rencontre

Father Roger Braun (24.6.1910 - 1.4.1981),16 from Alsace, visited the Historical Museum in Strasbourg at age fourteen. He was so impressed by a picture depicting Jews being thrown into the flames of a bonfire because they refused to renounce their Judaism that he decided "to do everything to make up for this, so that such a thing should not be repeated," and as a Christian to work at redressing the injustice which had been done. He entered the Jesuit novitiate in 1929 and following his ordination in 1940, he devoted his life to helping the persecuted Jews and to fostering in Christians a better understanding for the religious situation of Judaism and for their duty to redress the wrong done to the Jews. Becoming assistant chaplain to the concentration camps of the South of France in September 1942, he succeeded in saving about forty children from deportation. It was as chaplain that he brought Tallit and Tefillin to the Chief Rabbi Deutsch who was interned in one of the camps.

In face of the reawakening of anti-semitism in the 1960s he decided to found a review aimed at countering anti-Jewish prejudice, presenting a true understanding of Judaism and developing friendship and mutual understanding between Christians and Jews. Thanks also to the support of his friend, the Chief Rabbi Schilli, director of the "Séminaire Israélite de France" from 1951 to 1975, the review Rencontre was published from 1967 to 1986.

At Father Braun's funeral Msgr. Léon Arthur Elchinger, Archbishop of Strasbourg said: "I hope that we will remain faithful to the doctrinal intuitions of Father Braun and to his courageous actions, and that the links that he was able to create between Jews and Christians will develop and bear fruits of reconciliation, peace and love."

ORGANIZATIONS

Amitié judéo-chrétienne de France (AJCF) 17

One of the earliest organizations of Christian-Jewish dialogue is that of France. Its roots go back to the Amitié chrétien (Christian Friendship) which began in Lyons during the last months of 1941 thanks to the originating idea of a protestant, Gilbert Beaujolin, a Dutch Seventh Day Adventist, John Weidner and a free-thinker, Oliver de Pierrebourg. In 1942 this association saved hundreds of Jews. Its executive committee also included Father Chaillet, S.J., Reverend Glasberg, a Catholic priest of Ukrainian Jewish origin who had succeeded in redirecting a whole train of Alsatian Jews into the non-occupied zone, and Pastor de Pury. Cardinal Gerlier and Pastor Marc Boegner were asked to become honorary joint-presidents.

In 1947 the Seelisberg Conference organizers contacted some people in Paris in order to create an inter-religious committee in France. Thus the Amitié judéo-chrétienne was founded in 1948, with the famous philosopher Jacques Maritain, Edmond Fleg and Jules Isaac among its members.

Jacob Kaplan (7.11.1895 - 5.12.1994)18 was a member of the Honorary Committee of the AJCF and received the Prize of the Amitié judéo-chrétienne de France for his persevering and prophetic efforts for reconciliation between Jews and Christians. While rabbi at Mulhouse from 1922 to 1928 he had been in contact with the Friends of Charles Péguy who greatly influenced the change of Christian attitudes towards Jews. Elected Chief Rabbi of Paris in November 1950, he was appointed Chief Rabbi of France in January 1955.

The AJCF journal, now a monthly review called SENS, provides information on many other pioneers. Among these was Claire Huchet-Bishop (1898-1993) who followed Jacques Madaule from 1975 to 1981 as president of the Amitié. She was also president of the ICCJ from 1974 to 1976. Starting her career as story-teller, she later wrote her own stories publishing about thirty books. One of her most important works is: "How Catholics Look at Jews. Inquiries into Italian, Spanish and French Teaching Materials"19. At an audience with Pope John Paul II in July 1984 she told the Pope that he should recognize the State of Israel.

Koordinierungsausschuß für christlich-jüdische Zusammenarbeit (Coordinating Committee for Christian-Jewish Co-operation)

Besides the more prominent people in the Jewish-Christian dialogue there were also those who although less well known were just as decisive. Otto Herz (1912-1981) from Vienna was a business man who survived the Shoah first in France and then in Switzerland. Returning to Vienna after 1945 he invested all his energy in fighting anti-semitism. He was member and president of the Anti-defamation League of B'nai B'rith and one of the founders of the Koordinierungsausschuß of which he was the co-president for many years. At his initiative all the Catholic religious text books used in Austrian schools were examined for their teaching of Judaism and proposals were made for their amelioration. This enterprise was encouraged by Cardinal König. With Dr. Elfriede Kreuzeder of the Old-Catholic Church, Otto Herz was also an initiator of Jewish-Christian Radio programs. In 1968 he wrote a thesis on "Judaism and the present Ecumenical position".

Aktion gegen den Antisemitismus in Österreich (Action Against Anti-Semitism in Austria)

Kurt Pordes (1922-1990), a Protestant of Jewish origin who had returned to Vienna from emigration in England, directed his political and journalistic gifts to the spiritual renewal of Austria. Thanks to him and to others such as Pastor Propper, several ritual murder legends were suppressed. Pastor Propper's letters to both Pope Pius XII and Pope John XXIII in this matter helped achieve this.

Kurt Pordes' far-sighted view impelled him to encourage younger people to join the dialogue movement. With this aim he organised Youth Conferences, partly in cooperation with the ICCJ, of which he was one of the first presidents from 1964 to 1968. He was vice-president of the Aktion from 1956 until his death. In this capacity, in May 1962, he organised an exhibition of the Children's Drawings of Theresienstadt: "There are no butterflies here," in the rooms of the Pedagogical Institute of Vienna. He encouraged Seminars for teachers and was editor of the Mitteilungsblatt, the newsletter of the Aktion.

Christlich-jüdische Arbeitsgemeinschaft in der Schweiz (Christian-Jewish Working Group in Switzerland)

In Switzerland Christian-Jewish dialogue is rooted in helping the persecuted during the war. Despite restrictive immigration laws during the war years Switzerland took in a large number of refugees. Pastor Paul Vogt, among those who defied these laws, opened his social centre "Sonneblick" to refugees including those of Jewish origin, especially Orthodox Jews. To finance his endeavour he introduced a "Flüchtlingsbazen," a monthly contribution for the refugees.

From November 19-26, 1945 a study week for Christians and Jews on "Germanism and Judaism" took place in a second "Sonneblick" centre. Pastor Vogt wrote that the aim of the 34 Jews and Christians gathered there was "to reflect together and to ask themselves what should be the fruit of the joint suffering and the joint deliverance and what should be the consequence for Jews and Christians in Switzerland of that dreadful experience of the 20th century". Not content with words the group decided to found the Christlich-jüdische Arbeitsgemeinschaft in der Schweiz to promote better mutual understanding between Jews and Christians and to fight against anti-semitism. Hans Ornstein, who suggested this, was elected Secretary of the new association at its founding meeting on April 28, 1946. Serving in this capacity until his death in 1953, he devoted all his energy to the aims of the Arbeitsgemeinschaft. President of the association from the beginning and for many years was a participant of the Seelisberg Conference, Prof. Erich Bickel.

Het Leerhuis (The House of Study)

On October 20, 1966 Henri van Praag, president of the "Anne-Frank-House", founded the "Leerhuis" in Amsterdam. It took its example from the House of Study in Stuttgart where Martin Buber and Karl Ludwig Schmid met in 1933 to discuss "Church, State, Nationality, Judaism". The first Leerhuis in Amsterdam, where Jews and Christians met to study together, was soon followed by others in other cities.

Among those most active in the Leerhuis, besides Henri van Praag, were Rabbi Jacob Soetendorp and Cornelius Rijk.

The concept of the Leerhuis was taken up by Dr.Heinz Kremers, a protestant professor in Duisburg (Germany), who in 1972 initiated a research project for the revision not only of the text books for religious instruction but also all the other text books used in German schools.

This short survey of pioneers has left unmentioned an even greater number than those mentioned. Moreover we must not forget the importance of the many who collaborated in one way or another. They are for us an example and a challenge to continue on the way that they have shown us.

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Notes
* Hedwig Wahle is a Sister of Sion and member of the SIDIC staff. She was founder of the Information Centre for Christian Jewish Understanding (IDCIV) in Vienna and active in Christian-Jewish Dialogue in Austria for 30 years.

1. Cf. Dr.Ton H.M.van Schaik, Vertrouwde Vreemden. Betrekingen tussen katholieken en joden in Nederland 1930-1990, Ten Have, Baarn, 1992.
2. The two other founders were Dr. C.A.Rijk in whose honour SIDIC published a special issue at his death (1/1980), and Father W.P.Eckert who is still active in Germany and will be writing an article in one of the next issues of SIDIC.
One of the early collaborators of SIDIC was Dr. Renzo Fabris, who died suddenly in 1991. In 1971 he was elected the first president of the SIDIC Association and since 1974 he was also the director of the SIDIC review.
3. See page 5.
4. On Cardinal Bea see the special issue of SIDIC in 1969.
5. Cf. Jules Isaac. Combat pour la vérité - pages choisies et textes inédites. Hachette 1970.
6. Jules Isaac, Jésus et Israël, Albin Michel, Paris, 1948.
7. See the report of Chief Rabbi Jacob Kaplan in SENS 5-1995, p.192-200 and Jules Isaac, L'Antisémitisme a-t-il des racines chrétiennes. Fasquelle 1960, p.57f.
8. Cf. Jules Isaac, Combat pour la vérité p.265-270 and SENS 7/8-1977 p.17-23.
9. Cf. A.Ramaekers o.s.c., Dr.Anton van Asseldonk o.s.crucis 1892-1973, in:Clairlieu. Tijdschrift gewijd aan de geschiedenis van de kruisheren 36(1978) 5-51. and Dr.Ottilie Schwarz in Te Deum. Ter levende nagedachtenis aan P.Dr.Antonius van Asseldonk, kruisheer. Wien, 1979.
10. Cf. SIDIC 3-1968 p. 6-10.
11. Cf. Freiburger Rundbrief 1/1948.
12. Cf. Freiburger Rundbrief XXXV/XXXVI 1983/84 p.197.
13. Cf. Freiburger Rundbrief XXIV/1972 p.112.
14. For the person and work of Kurt Hruby see the book review on p.32.
15. Les Eglises devant le Judaïsme. Documents officiels 1948-1978. Cerf, 1980.
16. Cf. Rencontre N° 71 - 1981.
17. Cf. Marie-Thérèse Hoch, L'Amitié judéo-chrétienne de France. in: SENS 11/1984, p.409-432.
18. See: Sens 5-1995; 7-1981 p. 157.
19. Cf. SIDIC 1/1978 p.33.