The 9th November
In Bamberg
As usual, the remembrance meeting took place at the Synagogue memorial on Synagogue Square. Mayor Lauer's reminded those present that the 9 November 1938 was the start of crimes of unimaginable ex- tent.The Bamberg Jewish Community, members of which had done much for the wellbeing of Bamberg, was annihilated. He referred to the saying that time heals all wounds. "This must not apply to the events we remember today. Diese Wunde muss sichtbar bleiben"
(This wound must remain visible). Our task was to achieve a peaceful coexistence of the different cultures. Hatred, ignorance and injustice against fellow citizens must be stopped in its tracks. Extremism in all its forms must be fought.Mr. Olmer spoke of the present situation: "Jetzt weht wieder ein rauher Wind" (A harsch wind is blowing again), he said and made a passionate appeal to fight terrorism. He thanked the City for making possible the construction of the new Community Centre and stressed that the house will not become a ghetto, but a meeting place for all citizens.
At Burg Feuerstein
The annual meeting of remembance under the Motto "Dangerous Memories" on 9 November is by now a long established event. The format of the service at this Catholic Adult Education Centre is always the same: All three religions share it, no words or prayers are spoken to which any Jew could take exception.
Instead of a Klezmer band, there was a guest speaker this year, Yitzchak Zieman, (b. 1920 in Latvia,) He was the sole surivor of his family. He said that we must of course, remember the horrors of the Third Reich, but that was not enough for him. We must also look to the present and the future and find a proper balance.
As part of a series run by the youth section of the college entitled "Ask us - we are the last" Ziemann led a discussion with senior pupils of the Gymnasium at Ebermannstadt.
For two press report see Appendix 11.
In Ermreuth
As every year on the occasion of the 9 November, Dr. Raja Nadler conducted a tour of the Jewish cemetery, which gave her the opportunity to talk about the history of the Ermreuth community. The tour was well attended. (See also under the "Around Bamberg" column).
In Forchheim
The
"Stadtanzeiger", the official gazette of the city, of 9 November, showed an oil painting in a colour feature of the former Synagoge within a view of the river front, featured a piece entitled "In Remembrance of the 9th and 10th November 1938" on a full front page, too large to reproduce in an Appendix.The issue contained a reflective and war- ning feature on the events on 9 November 1938 by Mayor Stumpf
To mark the 9 November, the churches, the city of Forchheim and a local club invited the public to a Remembrance Walk to places of former Jewish Life in Forchheim, guided by Rolf Kiessling, a local teacher, who is preparing book on the Forchheim community. About 50 people took part.
A memorial meeting took place at the site of the destroyed synagogue and a Hebrew prayer was read.
The Fränkischer Tag of 10 November also reported the walk and the memorial meeting. The report in Appendix 12 shows the picture featured in the Stadtanzeiger, with the synagogue clearly visible.
In Kronach
On 9 November the Aktionskreis Kronacher Synagoge met at the synagogue to remember the night of terror and what followwed (see press report in Appendix 13).
In Lichtenfels
At the suggestion of the local "Green" party, a "Mahnwacht" (how to translate this word? I cannot do better than "a Warning Wake") was held in front of the Town Hall. Especially on this day of remembrance, those present pleaded for a peaceful coexistence of the religions and cultures. The "Greens" being the "Greens", they took the opportunity to speak against the bombing of Afghanistan, as if the terrorists could be defeated by persuasion (see press report in Appendix 14).
Remembering the 9/10 November 1938
in the Fränkische Schweiz
The Nordbayerische Kurier
of 10/11 November featured a full page, colour-illustrated piece on the events in three villages, Hagenbach, Pretzfeld and Wannbach. The shocking happenings were related by a villager from Pretzfeld who remembered the suffering of the remaining five Jews and their transport "like catlle" to nearby Forchheim. The manor house at Pretzfeld had been acquired in 1852 by the Nuremberg business man Josef Kohn. His granddaughter Sophie was married to the well-known painter Curt Herrmann (not Jewish) and they lived in the manor house. Because they had died before the 9 November 1938 and their son Fritz had left for England in 1937 (where he became acquainted with my architect soninlaw David Baker), the family was spared the violence and vandalism perpetrated in the house. Halfdrunk SA men forced their way into the house and wrecked what they could. The few pictures painted by Herrmann which had been left in the house after his death were taken to the courtyard and spat at.Because the press report is too large to be placed in Appendix 15 as a whole, even in reduced size, I had to leave out very good photo of the Hagenbach Jewish cemetery.
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© by Thomas Starz