Life_under_Siege_The_Jews_of_Magdeburg_under_Nazi_Rule.pdf

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the chaos and panic that followed. 126 For the majority of emigrants departure was
a very private affair and characterised chiefly by the disbelief of what was taking
place and the fear of the unknown, both for the emigrant and for those who
remained behind. For both parties the greatest fear was that they would not be
reunited. In the case of three out of the four interviewees who left as
unaccompanied emigrants this was, indeed, the case.
Amongst the belongings packed in the suitcase of the fifteen-year-old Inge-
Ruth Herrmann were a porcelain doll and its knitted clothing. The clothing had
been carefully knitted by the young girl’s mother years before in happier times.
Her mother had also ensured that she possessed a German-English Langenscheidt
dictionary. 127 In August 1938 the Synagogen-Gemeinde farewelled both Inge-Ruth
Herrmann and Gisela Jankelowitz formally and presented them with a colour
photograph of the interior of the synagogue. The symbolism of these objects
representing both the continuity of family and religion is most profound.
On the day of her departure, Gisela Kent recalled the atmosphere of the
breakfast table:
There was no farewell get-together. We had breakfast, as if everything was
perfectly normal, like every morning. Then we left and went to the [railway]
station. I left my unfinished cocoa on the table. 128
Both the teenage girls met with their respective families at the railway station on
the morning of 21 August 1938. Both interviewees recalled their families trying to
retain both dignity and composure as the minutes approached for the train’s
126 For a comprehensive discussion on the emigration of Jewish youth from Nazi
Germany, see Walter Laqueur, Geboren in Deutschland. Der Exodus der jüdischen
Jugend nach 1933 Berlin und München: Propyläen Verlag, 2000.
127 Poppert, op. cit., 9 January 1998.
128 Kent, op. cit., 12 January 1998.