Life_under_Siege_The_Jews_of_Magdeburg_under_Nazi_Rule.pdf

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shawl; when he realised it was in fact a Tallit, it made him feel very ill and hurt at
this act of desecration. 41 Numerous other interviewees recalled the damaged
synagogue and the shops.
By the time the interviewees felt it was safe to venture outdoors the majority
of the street carnage had been removed, but shop fronts remained boarded up,
awaiting the services of glaziers. Sigrid Freeman recalled the view of what
remained of the synagogue’s interior after explosives had been used to blow it up.
She also recalled her feelings of sadness in the weeks immediately after the
pogrom and the difficult process Jews faced in getting out of Germany. With the
destruction of the synagogue, religious services were held in the B’nai B’rith
Lodge next door. 42 A photographic record of the destruction confirms that
explosives were used to destroy the interior of the synagogue and that the elegant
gallery, which once housed female congregants and the choir, had collapsed. The
main structures of the exterior walls remained. 43 However, the entire interior had
been reduced to rubble. It had also been plundered and physically destroyed by
hand, prior to the use of explosives. The synagogue’s offices, conference room,
music room and dining room suffered the same fate. 44 In the wake of the
41 Levy, op. cit., 7 November 1996.
42 S. Freeman, op. cit., 13 May 1998.
43 Four undated photographs detailing the interior of the Synagogen-Gemeinde zu
Magdeburg after its destruction on 9–11 November 1938, Photos Archive Collection,
Phot Registry Numbers 136BO3, 136BO7, 136BO8, 136CO1, YVA. Identical
photographs from this collection are also located in Bestand Oa, Signatur Nr. 47a,
ASGM and in Collection M96, File 22:18, Sydney Jewish Museum Archives (SJMA).
From the images captured it is most likely that these photographs were taken
immediately after the events of the pogrom.
44 Four undated photographs detailing the conference room, the music room, an office
and the dining room of the Synagogen-Gemeinde zu Magdeburg after their
destruction on 9–11 November 1938, Photos Archive Collection, Phot Registry
Numbers 136AO7, 136AO8, 136AO9, 136BO5, YVA. Identical photographs from
this collection are also located in Bestand Oa, Signatur Nr. 47a, ASGM. From the