Is this a tempest in a teapot and a lot of hot air or is there something about it?
This article is not so much about German spouses converting to Judaism, because of their marriage with a Jew, but more about other Germans who converted.
Overall, these conversions seem to be few and far in between:
"... Within the past 21 years, 1,697 people converted in, according to the Central Welfare Board of Jews in Germany — an average of about 80 people a year over that period. In 2021, a total of 43 conversions were completed, and of those, the majority were Orthodox, according to a source close to the Orthodox beit din, or Jewish religious court. ..."
To give more perspective:
"As of 1 January 2016, the core Jewish population of Germany was estimated to be 117,000 (0.14% of the wider population), and the enlarged Jewish population was estimated at 225,000 (0.27% of the wider population).
... The majority of this increase is due to immigration from the Former Soviet Union.
Between 1990 and 2015, 2,596 Germans emigrated to Israel.
An estimated 275,000 Germans qualify for Israeli citizenship under the Law of Return. ..." (Source)
Perhaps, the author of this opinion piece is trying to argue the point that too many of those Germans who convert are doing this out of guilt of the Holocaust. This seems to be a little preposterous 77 years after WW II ended! Judaism is one the Abrahamic religions and Judaism is the oldest, probably the most original, and perhaps the best of the three religions in terms of human progress and humanity.
"... In the column, titled “Why the increasing number of converts is a problem for Judaism,” Gerstetter charged that too many people in Germany convert for the wrong reasons — such as to atone for their family’s Nazi past or to identify with the victims rather than perpetrators — and she criticized the fact that converts fill numerous Jewish leadership roles in Germany. ..."
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