Hanna Veiler vows to give Europe’s Jewish students a louder, unapologetic voice
Newly elected EUJS president Hanna Veiler pledges to reclaim Jewish narratives, confront campus antisemitism, and empower smaller unions
Hanna Veiler has barely settled into her new role as president of the European Union of Jewish Students (EUJS) when she takes a call at a noisy airport, en route to mark 250 years of Jewish life in Sweden. “It’s already all over the place,” she laughs, “we haven’t officially started in the office yet, but it’s already busy.”
At 27, Veiler has become one of the most prominent young Jewish voices in Europe. Born in Belarus in 1998 and raised in the spa town of Baden-Baden in Germany’s south, she grew up as the only Jewish child in her school. “All of this politicised me very strongly from a very young age,” she recalls. After finishing school, she volunteered in Israel, worked in a facility for people with disabilities, and learned Hebrew – an experience that sharpened, rather than resolved, her questions of belonging.
On returning to Germany, she began studying art history in Tübingen, only to discover Jewish students had no real place on campus. “There was no space for us, no initiative,” she says. “People had to travel for something like an hour on the train to be able to join a Shabbat dinner. So, I decided to do something against it. I founded a local Jewish initiative.” That move led her into the Jewish Student Union of Germany (JSUD), where she eventually became president, representing 25,000 young Jews before stepping onto the EU stage.
“EUJS has always been the place for me where I felt the most at home with my Jewish identity, because I didn’t have to be German or an Eastern European Jew,” she explains. “There was some sort of pan-European identity that we all shared.”
Now she takes charge of an umbrella body representing 36 national student unions. It is, she says, in good shape: “EUJS is in a very stable position. It’s widely recognised as the platform for young Jewish voices across Europe.” But she insists her leadership will be defined by a clear, unapologetic stance. “I think what I bring is the experience of building something from scratch, while also leading on the biggest national stage,” she says.
Central to her vision is reclaiming Jewish narratives. “Over the past two years we’ve been pushed against the wall. We could not decide anymore how we want to tell our stories. I do think it’s about time for us to… start proclaiming our own narratives, meaning going out into the world and telling our stories that are diverse, challenging, full of resilience — and to tell them with our own confident voice.”
One of her first projects is to open EUJS’s archives and turn them into a travelling exhibition. “We have proof that young Jews have never been passive, but have always been active in shaping European identities, shaping their lives and shaping democracy,” she says. It is, she argues, as much about showing students their inheritance as it is about demonstrating to the wider world that Jewish youth are not defined solely by antisemitism.
That fight remains urgent. She describes antisemitism on campus as “a pan-European movement” – organised, globalised and amplified online. “Those responsible are extremely well connected,” she warns. “We need to be ready to react. And I do believe it’s also about time for students to consider legal means. Talking doesn’t help so much anymore.”
Her plans also include creating a dedicated Eastern European network within EUJS to reflect the particular pressures facing post-communist Jewish communities and investing in smaller unions to professionalise and grow. “Specifically, the unions from former communist countries are facing different challenges,” she explains. “I want to create a platform where they can have a voice, educate others, and formulate concrete asks of EUJS leadership.”
Politically, she is determined that EUJS will hold its ground in European institutions even when the environment is hostile. “There are a lot of discussions of, shall we stay or should we leave? Our position is clear. We’re staying. We keep calling hate out, we keep fighting for Jewish rights, we keep fighting for democracy, we keep fighting polarisation.”
Looking ahead, she is candid about the scale of the challenge. “The space for Jewish students is becoming smaller and smaller,” she admits. “We need to empower the next generation of leaders with adaptive skills, because we may wake up in a world that changes overnight. That has happened to us several times.”
For Veiler, success will be measured not in headlines but in leadership succession. “I hope that the moment I leave, there will be ten other people wanting to run for presidency and 50 wanting to run for board. You can only judge the achievements of a leader by how many other leaders they have produced in their time.”
Her final message is unflinching. “The times are difficult, but I want everyone to know that the young Jewish generation is not giving up. We’re fighting, and we’re doing it every day. We are experts for a lot of topics that are very relevant right now, and we will make sure to have a seat at every possible table.”
It is not a slogan so much as a declaration: Europe’s Jewish students are ready to speak, and under Hanna Veiler, they plan to do so loudly.
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