Life_under_Siege_The_Jews_of_Magdeburg_under_Nazi_Rule.pdf

Magdeburg und Umgegend. 5 Through these newsletters, we are provided with the
weekly calendar of two of the congregations in Magdeburg: the Synagogen-
Gemeinde zu Magdeburg and the Jüdische Vereinigung ‘Achduth’. This
publication also confirms the existence of a community Mikvah and of the mixed
choir attached to the Synagogen-Gemeinde. 6 Quite succinctly, the existence of
both of these establishments, arguably, represents the religious pluralism and
cultural diversity that existed in this small community.
The term ‘Jewish community’ has to be defined. For the purposes of this study
the definition of the ‘Jewish community’ is such that it includes all persons of the
Jewish faith, regardless of affiliation or national origin, and those defined as
Jewish after the introduction of the Nuremberg Laws on 15 September 1935.
The Jewish community in Magdeburg was not dissimilar to the majority of
Jewish communities in Germany. It was not one homogenous body, but consisted
of Jews who adhered to the traditional German-Jewish religious practice and
observance, as well as those Jews who belonged to the Eastern European religious
tradition. Whilst it can, arguably, be maintained that this community of Jews was,
indeed, one grouping, religious observance and national origin did create a rigid
divide in the community. However, in a number of aspects of social life there
existed social intercourse between the two groups. According to the census figures
of June 1933, the city counted 1,973 Jews, 7 of whom 748 or 37.9% were
5 Jüdisches Wochenblatt für Magdeburg und Umgegend, 30. Dezember 1932, Nr. 53,
7. Jahrgang, Archiv der Synagogen-Gemeinde zu Magdeburg, Magdeburg (ASGM),
pp. 339–344. Copies of this weekly newsletter for the period 1925–1932 inclusive are
to be found in the ASGM and copies for the period 26 March 1926 to 22 June 1928
inclusive are also to be found in the Periodicals Collection, File P-B453a, LBIA NY.
6 Ibid., p. 342.
7 Statistisches Reichsamt, Statistik des Deutschen Reichs, Band 451, Volkszählung:
die Bevölkerung des Deutschen Reichs nach den Ergebnissen der Volkszählung 1933,
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