Hamburg synagogue to be rebuilt in situ
A CAMPAIGN for what is being billed as the first full reconstruction of a destroyedsynagogueinGermanybegan lastsummerwiththediscoveryof arelic in a Hamburg antique shop.
Weeks ago, in a pre-Chanukah gesture, Germany approved 65 million euros for the rebuilding of this city’s Bornplatz Synagogue, which was largely destroyed in Kristallnacht pogrom of 9 November 1938.
There are virtually no traces of the synagogue on the spot where it stood. But an old Torah crown surfaced last summer in a Hamburg antiques shop, said Daniel Sheffer, local businessman and Jewish community member, who was called there by local Rabbi Shlomo Bistritzky. And that discovery triggered Mr Sheffer to act.
The shopkeeper opened a bag and removed what looked like a hatbox, Mr Sheffer recalled to the JC. Inside was the crown, engraved with a dedication to Markus Hirsch (1833-1909), the first rabbi of the Bornplatz synagogue, which had been dedicated in 1906. At the time, there were some 20,000 Jews in the city. Today, there are about 6,500, ranging from Orthodox to Liberal and secular.
Holding a rare object from the destroyed and looted synagogue, Mr
Sheffer “felt overwhelmed. But I also felt embarrassed and ashamed and angry, because I was being asked to buy back what was stolen from our ancestors,” he said.
“That feeling lasted for days,” recalled Mr Sheffer.
But the find triggered his desire to gain full restitution for the destroyed synagogue.
He eventually bought the item, which will be restored for use in Hamburg’s Hohe Weide synagogue. And he launched the successful campaign, “No to antisemitism. Yes to the Bornplatz synagogue.” Now, thanks to support from the federal government and the state of Hamburg — announced on 26 November — a feasibility study will ensue. Several hurdles must be overcome before actual reconstruction can begin. But the idea is to match the building’s original exterior and create a place
Mr Sheffer has taken the crown to more than 50 meetings’ for interfaith meetings inside — a “place to learn about Jewish culture and religion, a place to diminish prejudice,” project spokesperson Eva Marhenke told the JC.
Over recent months Mr Sheffer has taken the crown with him to more than 50 meetings with public officials and other potential supporters.
“Despite the Coronavirus, and with socialdistancing,Iputthecrownintheir hands and make it tangible, so they can feel history,” he said.
The Jewish community was forced to tear down the ruins of the synagogue in 1939, and then to sell the property to the city at a depressed price. A measly restitutionwascarriedoutin1953,organized bythesameofficialwhohadorderedthe community to raze the building in 1939, Mr Sheffer learned.
“Thetownsquarehasbeenemptyever since,” said Hamburg Mayor Katharina Fegebank, in a recent statement of support.“Wenowhaveamoralobligationto try to heal that wound.”