Source : Yad Vashem Archive 08/62, I Chaienu I, Student newspaper: Jewish Boarding School, Herrlingen
Why I Went to a Jewish Boarding School I Landschulheim I
During my elementary school years I went to a Jewish school. Then I changed to a public high school and was glad to have the opportunity to study there. Likewise, I am now delighted to study in a Jewish boarding school. I had I wanted to leave the narrow realm of a purely Jewish education and to get the same education as any other citizen, because I thought of myself as ΓÇ£GermanΓÇ¥ and was even at times ashamed to tell a Christian friend that I went to a Jewish school.
Thus, I went to a public institution and felt superior to those who went to Jewish schools. I studied what everyone studied, not just what was taught to a small minority, even though I always considered myself part of that minority. Suddenly, in the spring of 1933, everything changed. Outwardly, no difference could be observed in my schoolmates. Thanks to my solidarity with the class for years and to the fact that I had served as a prefect for two years, I had gained the respect and friendship of my schoolmates. Until one day the teacher entered the classroom and announced: 'There is no need to elect a new prefect, I shall appoint one. You will understand that nowadays a Jew can no longer take over the leadership of the class.' Although the whole class expressed their sorrow afterwards, assured me that I would have been re-elected unanimously and even spoke to the headmaster, the decision remained firm. I felt very hurt and more than any previous experience this proved to me that I didn't belong there.
'I don't belong here' was my only thought in all my classes. So, I then sought a way to get out of that community. Out, and straight to a school where I could learn and mature freely. That is what happened to most of the Jewish students. But what can we do to become free and upstanding people again, what can we do to prevent the doctrine of our racial inferiority from eating into our brains?
We have to connect ourselves again with our Jewish roots! We must learn that our Jewish identity stands for pride, not for inferiority. I wanted to return to a Jewish school, but not to an orthodox one. My desire was to learn about Jewish culture and literature, to explore the greatness of Jewish knowledge.
Nevertheless, sometimes I had my doubts about Jewish education. When I saw teachers who start teaching at a Jewish school without even being conscious of the change, this new awakening, I thought: 'Will I still be without a homeland even in this Jewish school? Do these teachers possess the strength to guide me back to Judaism, while they themselves have not yet found it?'
So I wanted to study in a Zionist school and to be taught by teachers who had been part of the Zionist movement for years, even at a time when they would have been better paid and more respected in public schools. I was happy to come to the Jewish boarding school in Herrlingen. Here I should also experience a re-rooting in nature, a path back to the land. Knowing Hugo Rosenthal as a true and proud Jew was another reason for coming here.
Even though I discovered that this school was not Zionist, I came to appreciate that students learn about all streams (directions) in Judaism. They know how to decide for themselves whether to set their sights on Europe or Palestine. The youth will decide it does so already, it is already building a new homeland.
Thus I study at a Jewish institution, learn about my people and become a free and conscious Jew.
Still, I miss some things and it is the duty of the Jewish school to provide them for me.
