Explanations and Brief Readings for the Posters Posters 1-2: Jews in the Weimar Republic Jews in Weimar Republic, 1918-1933 With the establishment of the Weimar Republic in November 1918, a new era began in the history of German Jewry. It appeared that the emancipation of the Jews had come to full fruition. All of the restrictions that still existed on Jews were annulled, and Jews could now take part in all aspects of public life. Jews made important contributions to culture, economics and science. Along with the Jews unprecedented and intensive integration into German society, antisemitism also intensified. Political antisemitism grew increasingly violent. One of the peaks of antisemitic escalation during the Weimar Republic was the assassination of Walter Rathenau, the republic s Jewish foreign minister. His assassins did not conceal the fact that Rathenau s Jewish origins stood at the base of their motivation to murder him. German Jewry during the Weimar period was not uniform. It was composed of Zionists alongside assimilationists, long-time German Jews alongside newcomers (Ostjuden Eastern European Jews). The various trends were engaged in ongoing cultural and ideological struggles. The meaning and practical importance of the old distinction between Eastern and Western Jews grew more pronounced after 1918. 9
Jewish immigration into Germany from Eastern Europe increased considerably in the wake of the world war and the revolutionary convulsions which followed it. Jewish organizations in Germany worked for the absorption of the immigrants, but did not encourage them to remain in Germany. They were not so much concerned with the economic burden of caring for the immigrants as they were with the potential risk they posed to Jewish integration into the surrounding German society. The immigrants stood out in their different dress and behavior, which were foreign and even repulsive to many Germans. The Jews of Germany appeared to have internalized their Christian neighbors feelings of rejection and disaffection with these Eastern European Jewish immigrants. The term Ostjuden (Eastern Jews) which was attached to the immigrants contained more than a grain of derision and contempt. The activities of the various Jewish political, religious and social organizations increased during the Weimar era. These included the Centralverein, the Union of German Jews, the organizations of liberal and Orthodox Jewry, and the Hilfsverein. New social and political organizations also came into being. One important new organization was the Union of Jewish War Veterans, which sought to safeguard the rights of Jewish veterans and to defend their honor. The veterans union was at first open to Jews of varying political points of view. With time, however, it adopted a German nationalistic ideology, which made it difficult for Zionists to maintain their membership in the organization. Reading for Poster Number 1: A Bridegroom describes his marriage ceremony in the Liberal (Reform) Temple in 1924 [The first sentences describe the groom s patriotic feelings which stemmed from his education and his experiences as a soldier during the First World War]. Immersed in the humanistic education of the Royal Prussian Gymnasium, fellow soldier to German soldiers in the ditches, in the bunkers and in the artillery craters graduate of four universities in the best German tradition, member of the German Theatrical Association since I worked as a beginning playwright and director in Würzburg, son of a German patriot (in every inch of his being) and a leading 10
economic figure. I myself had been for years a partner in the P. W. Grünfeld textile company, which had been established by my grandfather [and here he describes his marriage ceremony]. I strode through a silent snow storm on the morning of New Year s Day 1924 next to my bride. I was dressed in a tuxedo and top hat, amongst the hundreds of people who filled the Lützowstrasse Synagogue. Leo Baeck blessed our union in a venerable and unforgettable manner. This liberal synagogue, where I had been accustomed to hearing the prayer for the state in the German language since my Bar Mitzvah, could claim many famous German-Jewish members. This synagogue had been the place to which I had come from the front during the First World War on the final Yom Kippur of the war, and it was there that I had been called to the Torah together with my comrades in arms. On my wedding day, singer Olga Eisner sang prayer songs and Beethoven s I Love You, accompanied by an organ. Up to this day, I am still not certain if fewer than half of those present at my wedding were non-jews. Nobody imagined at that time, on January 1 1924, that a decade later so many good Germans would be expelled from German society under the racist Aryan clauses. Fritz V. Grünfeld, Heimgesucht Heimgefunden, Betrachtung und Bericht, Arani-Verlag, Berlin, 1979, pp. 34-36. Reading for Poster Number 2: A. Following is the story of the people photographed floating in the river, as told by Rebbeca Piron (to the authors of the program), daughter of the young boy in the center of the poster. The poster shows a group of boys sitting in a row-boat. The boys are cousins who went on a Sunday outing in 1920. The two children in the center of the poster are two of the three Selinger brothers. The boy on the right is the eldest Izzi (Israel) Selinger. To his left, the younger one, is Menahem Selinger (Rebecca Piron s father). The boy on the right, sitting behind Menahem (second from the left) is unknown. The boy to the left is Mendel Selinger. Izzi and Menahem were born and raised in Leipzig, Germany. Their parents had emigrated from Poland a number of years earlier. They owned a chain of shoe stores in Leipzig and were fairly prosperous. The mother also took part in running the 11
business. The family employed a young Christian maid from the countryside to help in running the household and in raising the children. She lived in their house for sixteen years. The Selingers were a traditional family. They celebrated Jewish holidays in a traditional manner, went to synagogue on Saturdays and holidays and sent their children to a Jewish school (at least for elementary school). However, the parents did not refrain from opening the store on the Sabbath. They employed a melamed [a traditional Jewish teacher] to enrich the children s Jewish education. He provided them with a religious education in their home. In addition, Menahem spent a number of years studying with a much-admired Hebrew teacher (Dr. Weskin, who was murdered in the Holocaust). Later, when they arrived in Palestine, he already spoke Hebrew quite well. The photograph tells of a serene and comfortable life. And indeed that is what their life was. Izzi and Menahem were members of Jewish youth movements. At a later age they developed Zionist tendencies, and prepared themselves for immigration to Palestine. This was also true of their younger brother, Pinhas. Izzi immigrated to Palestine in 1933, and began his life in the new homeland as a member of Kibbutz Ein Harod. He later moved to the city and served for many years in the army. He passed away a number of years ago. Menahem was about 22 years old in 1936, when the atmosphere in Germany began to be filled with evil portends. One day he received the certificate he so longed for, which constituted an entry visa into Palestine. The certificate could be used either by a single person or by a married couple. He had had a steady girlfriend, and he now had a dilemma whether to go to Palestine or to remain in Germany, get married, and then go together. The decision had to be made within 24 hours, since many people awaited such certificates. The couple decided to marry and emigrate to Palestine. Preparations were made in haste, and approximately one month after their wedding, they parted from their parents and set off for the longed-for yet unfamiliar country. They never again saw Menahem s parents (Zvi and Dina Selinger). They were murdered in the Holocaust. They were fortunate enough to see the parents of his wife, Shulamit A certificate permitting immigration into Palestine within the framework of the British Mandate s immigration policies. 12
(Pritzi) a number of years later. (They had been able to escape to the United States, and were then able to immigrate to Israel in 1949). Menahem and Pritzi (Shulamit) settled in Kefar Haroeh, a religious workers moshav. It was in this spirit that they raised their children. They lived together for 61 years and lived to see children and grandchildren. They worked hard, but always maintained an air of optimism, joy and a strong bond to the land and to their people. Ms. Pritzi (Shulamit) still lives in their Kefar Haroeh home. B. My mother, who had a beautiful and very cultivated voice, encouraged young female artists. One singer, whom I used to amaze, invited me to accompany her on a stroll. This all took place in Insterburg, in Eastern Prussia. We met a Russian or Polish Jew, who asked me a question. I did not respond. The man spoke Yiddish. Although I did not know Yiddish, I did understand the address about which he had asked. Why don t you answer that man? the woman asked me. Are you ashamed perhaps? I felt hurt and destroyed. I showed the man the way, and then ran off without even saying goodbye. Kurt Blumenfeld, The Jewish Question as an Experience (Hebrew), Jerusalem, 1963. Discussion questions for poster 1 and 2 1. I am a German and a Jew in equal measure one cannot be separated from the other (Jakob Wassermann, writer, 1921). In your opinion, do the photographs and readings in the booklet reflect this writer s words? 2. Point to expressions which characterize the cultural world of German Jewry in the description of the wedding in the liberal synagogue. 13