Life_under_Siege_The_Jews_of_Magdeburg_under_Nazi_Rule.pdf

and religious practice, in chosen professions, in domicile and in both cultural and
social mores, in addition to regular social intercourse. 40
There is mixed agreement amongst interviewees from the community that the
‘German Jews did not mix with the Ostjuden [Eastern European Jews].’ 41 The
overall feeling was that Magdeburg’s community was the same as most other
German-Jewish communities in that German Jews did not mix with ‘Jews from
the East.’ 42 None of the interviewees felt that this division was positive, but
nevertheless had accepted it. Terms most commonly used to describe immigrant
Jews were Ostjuden and polnische Juden.
Most members of the Synagogen-Gemeinde were involved in the professions
and in business in the city. This included grain merchants, tradespeople,
technicians, engineers, business people owning and operating establishments
ranging from single shops to department stores, manufacturers and factory
owners, solicitors, judges, doctors, teachers and bankers. 43 They belonged to the
middle and upper classes of Magdeburg society. Conversely, the majority of the
members of the Shtiblech belonged to the lower middle class and some to the
working class. Gisela Kent recalled that ‘many of these people had small
businesses and were involved in trading in clothing; many actually sold on the
40
This pattern in Magdeburg is reflective of the general relationship between
German-born and immigrant Jews in Germany. For a comprehensive discussion on
this relationship see Steven E. Aschheim, Brothers and Strangers: The East European
Jews in German and German-Jewish Consciousness, 1800–1923 Madison: University
of Wisconsin Press, 1982.
41
Levy, op. cit., 4 August 1997.
42
Ibid.
43
Report to the Landesverband der jüdischen Gemeinden in der Russischen
Okkupationszone, Berlin from the president of the Synagogen-Gemeinde zu
Magdeburg, Otto (Ismar) Horst Karliner, 22 January 1947, Bestand 5B1, Signatur Nr.
65, CJA, op. cit., p. 241.
29