Life_under_Siege_The_Jews_of_Magdeburg_under_Nazi_Rule.pdf

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hiking. 73 At the time of registration, the group possessed forty-five members. 74 It
was a local group and, given its lack of affiliations and its ideological standpoint,
it is most likely that it was dissolved early in the regime. This would also account
for not one interviewee recalling its existence, even though they had vivid
recollections of the other groups.
The Magdeburg branch of the ‘Ring’, Bund deutsch-jüdischer Jugend (‘Ring’,
Bund Jüdischer Jugend after 1936) was a popular youth group. It sought to
explore and develop Jewish identity within the German context. Its educational
and recreational aims were not dissimilar to that of the group ‘Heimat’ and both
professed a loyalty to Germany and a pride in the position of German Jews since
the Enlightenment; a pride they attempted to maintain.
The majority of interviewees were dedicated members of this group and
recalled the camaraderie and the feeling of unity amongst the youth. Gerry Levy
characterised his feelings this way:
At that time there was a sort of turning inwards. We only had Jewish friends
and we all belonged to Jewish youth groups. All of my friends were there. You
see, we became separated from the rest of the world. It was a haven to get
away from the outside world; to be protected. 75
Gisela Kent recalled her time in the group and especially of how both the group
and its members perceived their respective identities:
My memories of the Bund deutsch-jüdischer Jugend: Well, again we
were Germans! Bund deutsch-jüdischer Jugend, so the ‘deutsch’ came before
the ‘jüdisch.’ We did what the Hitler Jugend did; we sang songs, we had a
uniform with a neckerchief, and we went on outings, bicycle outings; it was a
social get together. It had nothing to do with religion, other than we were all
Jews. 76
73
Satzungen des Jüdisch-religiösen Jugendbundes ‘Heimat’, Magdeburg, 1. Juli 1933,
Bestand 1, 75C Ar 1, Signatur Nr. 3, CJA, op. cit., pp. 46–47.
74
Ibid., p. 45.
75
Levy, op. cit., 4 August 1997.
76
Kent, op. cit., 5 January 1998.