Life_under_Siege_The_Jews_of_Magdeburg_under_Nazi_Rule.pdf

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In addition to her perception on identity, Gisela Kent’s remarks about the social
aspect of the group are especially important. Interviewees simply did not have the
option of retaining memberships of non-Jewish organisations or of joining them.
All interviewees who were members recalled with a combination of
excitement and fondness a camp in Göttingen in the spring of 1936. They recalled
sleeping in tents and singing songs around open campfires. Owing to restrictions
placed on Jewish youth groups in July 1935, the camp would have been located on
property owned by Jews and the participants would not have numbered more than
twenty persons. 77 Some interviewees still possess photographs of the event, as it
was an exciting adventure, as well as serving as a respite from the situation in
Magdeburg. The camp was organised by Hans Jensen, who played an important
role in this youth group as a leader. He recalled his commitment to the group:
I was fourteen and a half when I came to Magdeburg and obviously I was very
keen to mix with Jewish people. And the only way to do it was in a youth
group. I joined this group, the Bund deutsch-jüdischer Jugend, because of my
attitude, because I was German. Zionism didn’t play a big role in my
family. My parents were just not interested.
I think I had about thirty-five young people; there may have been 100 young
people. But there was more than one group; mine wasn’t the only one. I
think there were about four groups.
We had a Jugendheim [Youth Club] where we met in the Kantstraße. That’s
where we sang. Some people were playing the guitar. We certainly met once a
month. We had camps for that youth group too. 78
77 Correspondence from Der Reichs- und Preußische Minister für Wissenschaft,
Erziehung und Volksbildung, 10 July 1935, Bestand Rep. C 20 I. Ib, Signatur Nr. 1,
LHASA MD, p. 165. This memorandum, despatched nationally, sanctioned the
establishment of Jewish youth hostels, provided that they were not located in areas
where contact with ‘Aryans’ could easily occur. Designated camping sites for Jews
were prohibited. However, where freehold land belonged to a Jew, so long as its
intended use as a camping site was registered prior to the event, this was permitted.
Jewish youth groups were only permitted to undertake such activities, including
organised hiking, if the number of participants amounted to no more than twenty
individuals.
78 Jensen, op. cit., 14 June 1999.