To mark the th anniversary of the granting of equal rights to Jews in Switzerland, the SIG launched a travelling exhibition. The portraits of 15 Jews are meant to reflect that Jews today are an inherent part of Swiss society. In the Jewish community in Switzerland was officially recognised as a national minority, by which the Jews living in this country gained the same rights as other Swiss citizens. For this exhibition, the renowned Bernese photographer Alexander Jaquemet portrayed 15 selected Jewish personalities in their everyday life.
The selection is meant to reflect the diversity among Jews living in Switzerland. It also shows that Jews today are an inherent part of Swiss society. The exhibition toured Switzerland in and Emancipation, the advent of equal rights, paved the way for me as a Jewish woman in two ways. When I was born in Budapest in , I had no rights of any kind.
Only after our escape to Switzerland, where Jews had legal equality, did the state-decreed and readily practiced discrimination against me cease. Growing up in St. Gallen in the s and s, I did not experience government discrimination. Nevertheless, I developed a great sensitivity to all forms of injustice I perceived in my surroundings. So it was no surprise that I chose to study law. My career in the Swiss judicial system, however, would not have been possible without the expansion of voting rights in and the emancipation of women.
This emancipation also had an impact on my life and established the prerequisites that allowed me to become a judge. I spent my entire working life in the courts of this country, including eighteen years on the Federal Supreme Court in Lausanne, and was passionately involved in shaping jurisprudence in Switzerland.
When the lights go on and the camera starts rolling, I am in my element. Then Jean Paul Lob becomes the cult figure J. Love: I am a party singer, talk show host, erotic star, and much more, depending on the role I slip into.
