Life_under_Siege_The_Jews_of_Magdeburg_under_Nazi_Rule.pdf

the use of Yiddish, as articulated by Hemmi Freeman, when discussing the use of
Yiddish in their home: ‘My father, for sure not. If he knew it, he objected to it. My
mother possibly, but they never spoke it in my presence.’ 50
Gerry Levy recalled that his parents did not have any friends who were Polish
Jews, but tells the story of an uncle:
My mother’s youngest brother married a very beautiful girl, whose father was
a very religious Polish Jew. This man was very well respected in my family as
a learned man in Judaism and who could teach Hebrew. He married a lady
from Wolfen, near Dessau, who was totally German-Jewish in background.
This was seen as a ‘Mischehe.’ This aunt, together with her brother and sister,
and the whole family were treated as ordinary Jews in Magdeburg. There
existed these overlaps. 51
The ‘overlaps’ referred to in the quotation were a feature of the Jewish
community. What can be concluded is that for the period under discussion, the
two groupings maintained their separateness according to the level of
acculturation of those Jews of Eastern European origin. The most interesting
exceptions were children and youth, as well as those individuals involved in
Zionist activities.
The richness of the community’s cultural life is reflected in its cultural
institutions. In Karliner’s report 52 on the former community, he made extensive
references to the community’s cultural life, indicating that eleven institutions and
associations existed in 1933. He included the B’nai B’rith Moses Mendelssohn
Lodge, associations dedicated to Jewish history and literature, youth and
synagogue clubs and the social welfare support system and its agencies.
Characteristically, he noted that both the Synagogen-Gemeinde and Rabbi Dr
50
Personal interview with Hemmi Freeman (recorded), Sydney, 3 June 1998.
51
Levy, op. cit., 4 August 1997.
52
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.
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