Life_under_Siege_The_Jews_of_Magdeburg_under_Nazi_Rule.pdf

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developed a positive attitude to their own Jewishness and to their religion. 123 Once
deportations had commenced, the numbers of pupils at the school steadily
declined, causing much sadness to this small group of learners. From the time of
Spier’s deportation until the dissolution of the school on 30 June 1942, the
remaining pupils were taught by lay members of the community, who attempted
to continue Spier’s legacy. Given its pervading positive environment, the school
provided Jewish children with a respite from the harsh reality of the outside world.
For Jewish children in Magdeburg, their daily lives were fraught with potential
abuse and humiliation in the public domain, particularly after the introduction of
the wearing of the star. Nevertheless, at home, at school and when they were
afforded the opportunity to meet other Jews in public, they attempted to lead what
they thought were normal lives in highly abnormal times.
In the wake of the declaration of war, the city of Magdeburg was relieved of
its administration of the ‘Judenschule.’ By order of the Zehnte Verordnung zum
Reichsbürgergesetz of 4 July 1939, on 1 October 1939 the administration of the
‘Judenschule’ was taken over by the Education Department of the
Reichsvereinigung der Juden in Deutschland. 124 In Magdeburg the teaching staff
remained the same, despite this change. However, one noticeable change did take
place. On 16 November 1939, the Reich Minister for Science, Training and
National Education ordered that all small classes of Jewish children, some even
numbering between three and six pupils, in small villages and some towns were to
be dissolved and the pupils ordered to attend nominated larger Jewish schools in
designated areas. The ‘Judenschule’ in Magdeburg was made one of those
123
Joseph Walk, Jüdische Schule und Erziehung im Dritten Reich Frankfurt am Main:
Verlag Anton Hain, 1991.
124
Betr.: Übernahme der jüdischen Schulen, 19. Oktober 1939, Bestand Rep. C 28 II,
Signatur Nr. 88, Band 2, LHASA MD, op. cit., p. 88.