The Daily Life of the Village and Country Jews in Hessen (Part D)
The Daily Life of the Village and Country Jews in Hessen from Hitler's Ascent to Power to November 1938
Source: M. Kaufman, Yad Vashem Studies XXII, (Jerusalem 1992), pp.147-198.
The Churches and the Jews of Hessen
Although the attitude of Protestant clergymen toward the Jews appears to have differed from that of their Catholic counterparts, the evidence is not unequivocal. Broadly speaking, it can be argued that the Protestants on the whole identified more than the Catholics with Nazi anti-Semitism in the Hessen region, but this conclusion can be accepted only with important qualifications. It is a fact that in predominantly Catholic areas such as Austria, anti-Semitism was as rampant under Nazi rule as in Protestant areas. Franconia, under the leadership of Julius Streicher, was the most anti-Semitic region in Germany, but in the district of Fulda in Hessen-Nassau, anti-Semitism was also common. It appears that Catholic hostility toward the Jews was less intense in areas and towns where they were in the minority. This conclusion is borne out, among other things, by the Lageberichte (situation reports) prepared by the SD and the Gestapo during the period under consideration. It is possible that this stemmed from a certain empathy that some Catholics felt toward the Jews as members of another religious minority. In Hessen many Catholic priests protested Nazi violence even before it turned truly murderous; their opposition may plausibly be linked to Catholic youth organisations in the years 1934-1935. The concordat signed by Hitler with the Vatican on July 20, 1933 failed to prevent Nazi harassment of these organisations. Their activities were gradually restricted from 1935 onward, and ultimately stopped in 1938, with the confiscation of their property by the state.
Some village priests in Hessen were incarcerated in concentration camps after they had been denounced as friends of Jews. The priest Barth from the village of Astheim defended the Jews in public; another priest by the name of Dionys (his original name was Zoeren) from the village of Geinsheim died of typhoid in 1943 in the Dachau concentration camp. The priest Albert Muensch fought against the Nazis as early as 1933, and as a result he was forced to leave the country. Heinrich Hamstadt, a priest in the town of Lorsch, was accused of using his sermons for illicit purposes and was subsequently expelled from the district. The Jesuit priest Alfred Delp from the village of Lamepertheim was executed in February 1945, after having been accused of taking part in the 1944 conspiracy of senior army officers 104 .
The difference in the attitude of Protestant and Catholic clergymen toward the Jews was quite perceptible in the daily life of those who lived in the localities of Hessen. Church documents indicate that quite a few Protestant clergymen in the region declared openly their identification with the nationalist goals of the Nazi regime and took an active part in the anti-Semitic incitement. In the town of Moerfelden, where Communists had held a majority during the Weimar Republic, the Protestant pastor hoped that the Nazi rule would return the workers to his empty church. The pastor of Walldorf took a similar position. In Bad-Nauheim the Protestant church became an important stage for Nazi propaganda 105 .
The German Christians who adopted Nazi views based themselves theologically on Martin Luther's writings. In his work, published in 1534, entitled 'On the Jews and Their Lies,' Luther wrote that their synagogues must be burned down, and what is not consumed by fire, should be covered with earth. Their houses must be burned down as well, and their Torah books and Talmud sages taken away from them…' Some contemporary Protestant clergymen went even further than Luther in arguing that the Old Testament was no longer suitable for Christians in the new Germany.
Anti-Semitic pastors succeeded in taking control of the Protestant Church in Hessen as early as 1933. However, in 1935, a pastor from Walldorf and a pastor from the village of Biebesheim objected to the prevailing trend in German Christianity and allied themselves with an independent stream in the Protestant Church ( Bekennungskirche ), which sought to give precedence to the obedience to God over the duty of obedience to the state. But in April 1937, even these two clergymen affixed their signatures to the manifesto in which the Protestant Church pledged total loyalty to Hitler 106 . The 1935 church chronicle in the town of Gross-Gerau gives eloquent testimony to the prevailing mood among the Protestant residents: The two pastors are party members. We have enrolled every Protestant youth in Hitler Jugend… The church and the town leaders are on good terms.' 107
The Protestant clergymen even came out against every show of sympathy toward the Jews on the part of the Catholics. On April 1, 1933, the day of the boycott, a Protestant clergyman from the town of Hanau met several Christians in the company of Jews. Later he recounted: I met there a nice company: a Catholic judge, a Social-Democratic director, and two Jewish couples. The time has come for the police to step in and put and end to this business.' 108
Thus, it appears that the Catholic population in the towns and villages of Hessen were less active in the persecution of Jews than the Protestants, although only a handful dared to disobey the authorities. Although Catholic churches did not become a stage for extreme anti-Semitic incitement, as did their Protestant counterparts, only a handful of Catholic priests acted openly in defence of the Jews.
Jewish Reaction to Nazism in the Small Communities in Hessen
In the years 1933-1938 larger Jewish communities were still in a position to establish new frameworks of Jewish life, provided the Nazis permitted them to do so. On December 12, 1935, the Gestapo permitted dances to be held by Jews on the condition that no Aryans would be in attendance; on March 15, 1934, the Gestapo issued a directive whereby activities of Jewish sports organisations were not to be disturbed 109 . In small towns and villages, however, similar opportunities for the Jewish residents were much more limited. There is abundant evidence indicating that for most social life now consisted of close family relationships (retreat into private life ΓÇô Rueckzug ins Private ') 110 .
At first most Jews were reluctant to part with their German identity. Many hoped that the responsibility inherent in exercising power would have a restraining effect on the Nazi party and that its allies from the traditional right would prevent it from putting into effect the plan outlined in Mein Kampf . Some Jews decorated their houses with Imperial and Hessen flags as a show of their loyalty to Germany 111 . One of the laws enacted at Nuremberg in 1935 prohibited Jews from hoisting flags, while allowing them to display 'Jewish colours' (blue-white); with unbounded cynicism the Nazis also determined that they were entitled to the protection of the state 112 .
In the first years of Nazi rule, most Jews ΓÇô guided by their previous experience ΓÇô still believed that it would be best for them to weather the storm. There were some exceptions; for example, one Jewish World War I veteran reacted to the Nazi take over as follows: I had been with them in the army for many years. Hitler's victory means St. Bartholomew's Day [Massacre] for the Jews of Germany.' 113 Some Jews tried to externalise their German patriotism by displaying their war decorations; the Nazis would publicly rebuke them by saying: Jew, don't make a spectacle of yourself!' 114
It appears that, compared to their co-religionists in the cities, Jews in the countryside were quicker to grasp that Nazism would not go away anytime soon. Although opportunities for internal organisation were more limited in villages and small towns, patterns of Jewish reaction there resembled those in larger cities: attempts to promote unity and to establish frameworks for self-help and mutual assistance 115 . In the countryside, however, the striving for unity assumed different forms: new friendships were forged; relatives met to discuss the situation; social barriers between the rich and the poor were lowered; family celebrations turned into social occasions attended by many; links were formed between Jews from neighbouring villages. In small villages Jewish residents made efforts to pray together on Saturdays and holidays; when no minyan (the required quorum of ten Jews) could be assembled for public prayers during the High Holy Days, young Jews from neighbouring villages were called up, even in exchange for payment.
Many Jews in villages and small towns returned to traditional Judaism and made efforts to observe the commandments. In town where a minyan could be arranged without much difficulty, Jewish men assembled for twice-weekly meetings to read Torah together. In villages where the residents had no previous interest in Jewish subjects, they now began studying the history of their people and regularly bought Jewish weeklies 116 . As social gatherings with non-Jews no longer took place, Jews met more often with one another to play cards or at social evenings. Many took to clandestine listening to foreign radio broadcasts in German, especially from Strasbourg and Luxembourg.
Jewish youths who had been banned from most sports associations in the smaller localities in the first two years of Nazi rule refused to give up on sports activities (at least until 1937, when the Nazis banned Jews completely from sports) 117, and made contact with Jewish sports associations in the larger cities, where they still operated. They could choose between the Zionist Maccabi associations and the Schild, an organisation affiliated with the RJF ( Reichsbund juedischer Frontsoldaten ) ΓÇô Reich Union of Jewish War Veterans. After 1933, Jewish young people opted mostly for the Schild, as the majority of rural Jews were not close to the Zionist movement during this period 118 .
For obvious reasons synagogues in small towns turned into Jewish centres, not only in the religious sense, but as social centres as well. Teachers of religion and cantors initiated classes for the study of the weekly Torah portion, and often young, talented teachers also assumed the social leadership of the community 119 . Members of the community tended to arrive at the synagogue early and to stay after prayers to discuss and exchange views on current events. Even Jews who had been estranged from religion began coming to the synagogue, even if they did not actively participate in the prayers. In view of the shortage of rabbis in the villages and small towns, teachers of religion delivered sermons on current topics, exercising all due caution not to say anything against the regime, as synagogues had been under surveillance since 1933 120 . In 1937, communal leaders were prohibited from expressing views on current issues in public. This had been curtailed as early as 1935 121 .
In the years 1934-1935 the position of the Zionist movement in the villages and towns had improved. The orientation of the loyal members of the CV ( Centralverein deutscher Staatsbuerger juedischen Glaubens ΓÇô the Central Organisation of German Citizens of Jewish Faith) and RJF, the organisations that had upheld national German identity, began to change, while Juedische Rundschau increased its circulation. Robert Welsch's article 'Wear the Yellow Patch with Pride' ('Tragt ihn mit Stolz den gelben Fleck') made a deep impression. The Nazis actually imposed fewer restrictions on Zionist organisations as part of their overall policy of encouraging emigration, while curtailing the activities of those Jewish organisations that had turned the German nationality of the Jews into an article of faith. These policies explain the renewed permission granted to Martin Buber at the end of 1935 to hold public lectures, after this privilege had been revoked in May of that year 122 .
Although ritual slaughter was banned in April 1933, Jewish butchers continued the practice clandestinely in improvised slaughterhouses in back of their butcher shops. Those who were caught were put on trial and imprisoned 123 . Another expression of Jewish solidarity in the countryside was the financial assistance extended to the poor by the communities and the charity collected for the benefit of the needy. These activities received official imprimatur, although they could not be made public 124 . Although many German Jews became impoverished in the years 1933-1935, they did not suffer hunger. Until 1937 Jews were still entitled to welfare assistance by law, although, in view of the reluctance of the authorities to approve all applications for assistance, the more affluent community members stepped in to reduce the gap. However, as the resources of the smaller communities depleted, they had to turn for help to large Jewish organisations 125 .
In the first years of Nazi rule, Jews in villages and small towns faced greater hardships than did the residents of large cities as these still offered some measure of anonymity. This was one of the factors that prompted the migration of Jews, first from villages and later from small towns, to the large cities. Some planned to begin a new life there, while others hoped to emigrate abroad or to Eretz Israel 126 . By and large most Jewish communities in the countryside and in the small towns had been liquidated by the Nazis even before the outbreak of World War II.
Migration of Jews from Small Towns and Villages
Since the destabilisation of Jewish existence in the countryside had made itself felt even before Jews in the large cities bore the full brunt of the Nazi onslaught, rural Jews should have been the first to consider the option of emigration. This, however, was not the case. True, some families decided to leave at a very early stage, and did so as early as 1933, after the March elections. Young people who lost their jobs as a result of the restrictions imposed on the Jews' economic activities made efforts to leave either for the United States or Eretz Israel 127 . Many sent their children abroad, and in some cases members of the same family emigrated to different countries 128 . Young people who had experienced Nazi violence first-hand made every effort to leave the country in any way possible 129 . But for most of the older people, well settled in the small towns and villages, emigration proved difficult to contemplate, at least before 1936. Never prone to migration, rural Jews clung to their environment out of habit and hope that the situation would change for the better 130 .
In the years 1935-1937, the hopes that Nazism would soon disappear were dealt what seemed to be a final blow, and the number of candidates for emigration rose sharply. In the Fulda region this trend emerged even earlier 131 . Needless to say, for rural Jews emigration was a much more radical step than for residents of large cities; many of them had never travelled further than the nearest town, and most knew very little about life in other countries. They lacked commercial and economic connections abroad; most did not know foreign languages; and they were most apprehensive at the prospect of starting a new life at an older age 132 . True, there were Jews with agricultural and craft skills, and some families even managed to raise £1,000 by selling their possessions, thus qualifying for a special permit to Eretz Israel reserved for 'people of means' 133 . Advisors from the Hilfsverein, who, as early as 1935, had warned against ill-considered emigration due to ÉmigrÉs' expected difficulties in finding employment, only exacerbated existing fears 134 .
A number of large families, mostly from Upper Hessen, had relatives who had emigrated to America in the nineteenth century as a result of their economic situation then and had flourished. These relatives now appealed to them to emigrate and even signed affidavits of sponsorship without hesitation. This is one explanation for the relatively large number of Jewish survivors in Hessen, despite the difficulties and tribulations they experienced. For example, one of the Sonneborn family's sons, Rudolf Sonneborn, a Zionist leader in America, initiated and financed the immigration to Eretz Israel of over thirty young members of the family within the framework of Youth Aliyah 135 .
References:
104.For details on the attitude of the Catholic priests, see Arnold Busch, Widerstand im Kreis Gross-Gerau1933-1945 , Gross-Gerau, 1988 (henceforth: Busch), pp. 135-141. When a Jewish butcher was attacke in Hadamer in 1935, the Catholic priest of the village was also beaten; Hadamarer Juden, p. 23, Metzendorf/Heppenheim, p. 227, Kaufman Collection 072/ 68.
105.Ruehlig-Auer, pp. 84-85. Priest K. (his full name does not appear in the report) played a major part in the Nazi propaganda as early as the so-called 'Hitler Day' in 1933, delivering a Nazi-style sermon in his church; Kolb, p. 139.
106.Steeskamp, pp. 49-50; Busch, pp. 141-147.
107.Steeskamp, p. 49.
108.Schwabe, p. 161.
109. Armor for Spiritual Existence, Jewish Culture and Education in Nazi Germany (Hebrew), Tel Aviv, 1988; Herbert Freeden, 'Kultur nur fuer Juden,' in: NS Deutschland , pp. 259-271; circular ST MA 180 LA Eschwege 1929, Gestapo Reports for Hessen-Nassau, p. 373; circular ST MA 180 LA Hersfeld 9408, ibid. , p. 763.
110.Ruehlig-Auer, p. 75. Kaete Schulz of the village of Geinsheim to the author in 1970.
111.On September 5, 1934, the Kassel Gestapo reported that following the death of President Hindenburg the Jewish residents lowered the black-white-red flag ('German imperial colors') to half-mast; Gestapo Reports for Hessen-Nassau, p. 791. The question of national German flags, also according to the author's recollections.
112.Peter Schmitter, Geschichte der Alpener Juden , Alpen, 1986, p. 92. On the directives of January 6, 1936, banning Jews from hoisting the German national flag, see Gestapo Reports for Hessen-Nassau, p.763.
113.Kaufmann-Jugend, p. 43.
114.Like many other Jews, One of those attacked shortly after the Nazi take over was Itzhak Mendel. With the Nazis shouting Juda verrecke! he stood in front of them, holding the Iron Cross First Class in his hand, and shouted back Der Dank des Vaterlandes ist dir gewiss! ('the gratitude of the Fatherland is promised to you'); testimony of Paul Hess, Griesheim documents, Kaufman Collection 072/ 71. On March 5, 1933, facing arrest, Henri Stern displayed all the decorations he had been awarded for his service in World War I. the Nazis tore them off his clothes; Metzendorf/Heppenheim, ibid. , 072/68. In Alsfeld, the Jewish residents whose property had been damaged claimed they were entitled to compensation on account of their war decorations, ibid. , 072/42; see also Schleindl, p. 42. On the hopeless struggle of Salli Rosenthal of Bad-Nauheim for his rights as a World War I veteran, see Kolb, p. 138.
115.Schwabe, p. 162; Interview with Aynor; recollections of the author. The Gestapo, too, noticed the signs of growing unity among the Jews; see reports from Frankfurt, September 1934, and February 1936, Gestapo Reports for Hessen-Nassau, pp. 405, 587.
116.Testimony of Ruth Mayer of Moerfelden, Ruehlig-Auer, p. 198; Interview with Aynor; recollections of the author. The Gestapo reported that the synagogues were full, especially during the High Holy Days. see report from Frankfurt, Gestapo Reports forHessen-Nassau, p. 405.
17.Kropat, p. 424; directives of the Berlin Gestapo, August 9, 1935, Gestapo Reports for Hessen-Nassau, p. 739; directives of the Darmstadt Gestapo to all police centres, July 10, 1937, to stop all Jewish events, including sports competitions, allowing only religious and cultural events. These directives were received at the Schotten district office on November 9, 1937; Kaufman Collection 072/ 80.
118.Interview with Aynor and recollections of the author.
119.On the beneficial activities of the teacher and cantor Karl Hartogsohn in Gross-Gerau, see Kaufmann-Jugend, p. 47; Ernst Kahn gave an account of social and cultural activity in the synagogue of Bad-Homburg, see Peck-Herschler, pp. 82-83; on the initiative of the teacher Korn in the town of Fritzlar, see Kaufman Collection 072/ 51.
120.On the monitoring of Yom Kippur prayers in 1933, in Fritzlar, see Kaufman Collection 072/ 51.
121.In November 1935, the authorities revoked permission for two CV officials to deliver public lectures in Heppenheim on the grounds that they called upon the Jews to remain in Germany; see Metzendorf/Heppenheim, p. 190, Kaufman Collection 072/ 68. On the ban against Jewish lecturers, on behalf of the district head and, through him, to Buergermeisters of the villages of Gersfled and Tann, see Tann documents, ibid ., 072/88.
122.Kropat, p. 425. On March 14, 1935, the Hessen state police directed all police centres within its jurisdiction to take strict measures against all the organisations that were encouraging Jews to remain in Germany and to prevent any meeting at which ideas such as these were likely to be voiced; Kaufman Collection 072/ 80. On May 12, 1937, the Frankfurt Gestapo ordered that the activities of assimilationist Jewish organisations be reduced to a minimum and that the RJF be allowed to handle only the problems of the relatives of Jewish war dead; Camberg documents, ibid. , 072/53. On the encouragement of Zionist organisations and the curtailment of the organisations upholding integration of Jews into German society, see Gestapo Reports, April, October 1935, circulars and guidelines of May 20 and July 3, 1935, Gestapo Reports for Hessen-Nassau, pp. 212, 333, 709, 728. Martin Buber's permission to lecture was renewed since he was a Zionist and favoured Jewish emigration from Germany, Metzendorf/Heppenheim, Kaufman Collection 072/ 68.
123.On the increased vigilance of the local policemen in monitoring Jewish ritual slaughter on April 19, 1934, see Kefenrod documents, ibid. , 072/55. Katz, a Jewish ritual slaughterer, was caught red-handed and was tried and sentenced to three weeks in prison in September 1934. Local Nazis protested against what they considered a lenient sentence, according to Spangenberger Zeitung , Spangenberg documents, ibid. , 072/20. On clandestine ritual slaughtering, the author has also relied on his recollections.
124.Gestapo directive, December 9, 1935; StA MA 180 Hersfled 1308, Gestapo Reports for Hessen-Nassau, p. 762. See also Sprendlingen, p. 108, Kaufman Collection 072/ 65.
125.On February 25, 1934, the Buergermeister of Fritzlar reported that the Jewish welfare organisation had been liquidated and had absolutely no resources; see report for 1934 on the social, religious, and political situation of the Jews, Fritzlar documents, Kaufman Collection 072/ 51.
126.Testimony of Renate Rosenthal, Schleindl, pp. 156-163, 317. See also Ruehlig-Auer, pp. 100, 167, 206, and Kaufmann, Gross-Gerau, p. 14.
127.Abraham Margaliot, 'Emigration Planung und Wirklichkeit,' in: Die Juden im NS Deutschland
128. (henceforth: Margaliot), p. 303; on the emigration of the Hebel family from Gross-Gerau, see Scheindl, pp. 162-164; 'Juedische Angestellte wurden arbeitslos,' Ruehlig-Auer, p. 78. One young Jewish man told the story of how he had completed his studies at the Blumenthal department store in Wiesbaden only to be dismissed immediately afterward due to 'Aryanization.' He decided to emigrate to Eretz Israel and did so in 1936; Caspari/Oberbrechen, p. 66, Kaufman Collection 072/63. On the emigration of young people to Eretz Israel in 1933-1934, see Zimmersrode documents, ibid. , 072/20.
129.Many families sent their children abroad: the Stein family from Buettelborn, Romberg of Astheim, Kaufmann of Geinsheim, and Neu of Nauheim; see Schleindl, pp. 45, 212-213; see also Interview with Aynor.
130.Kurt Weishaupt of Moerfelden fled Germany after he had been severely beaten. He worked for an export firm in Frankfurt, and in February 1936 he obtained an exit visa to represent his firm abroad. He left the country and did not return; see Ruehlig-Auer, p. 233. The Doerrs were a mixed couple in Leeheim (a rare phenomenon in Hessen). Having realised they had no future in Germany, they fled to the United States with their two children; Schleindl, p. 255.
131.In the first years of Nazi rule, a Jewish resident of one of the villages was offered the opportunity to emigrate. He replied that as he was a war veteran he did not fear for his future even under the new regime; Hoffen/Obererlenbach, Kaufman Collection 072/63. On Jews who believed that good relations with their neighbours would protect them and that there was no need for them to emigrate, see Zimmersode documents, ibid. , 072/20. The Jewish residents of Oberbrechen were unwilling to renounce their rights to the Fatherland, acquired by their ancestors for generations; Caspari/Oberbrechen, ibid ., 072/63. On the Jews' conservatism, see interview with Aynor.
132.Kropat, p. 433; Schleindl, p. 46. In September and October 1935, the Frankfurt Gestapo reported on a rise in emigration in the aftermath of the enactment of the Nuremberg laws; similar information is to be found in the report of the Kassel Gestapo in January 1936; Gestapo Reports for Hessen-Nassau, pp. 372, 485, 499. In the Fulda region, as early as 1934 the district head reported that the enactment of the Nuremberg laws, Jews pressured the authorities to issue them passports so that they could emigrate; Klein/Fulda, pp. 143, 151, Kaufman Collection 072/68.
133.On internal Jewish controversy concerning emigration, see Ruehlig-Auer, p. 96; on difficulties encountered by the Neu family, which ultimately emigrated in 1938, see testimony of brothers Herbert and Heinz Neu, ibid. , pp. 179-190. Ernst Kahn of Bad-Homburg testified that in 1935 his father, age forty-eight, had already spent three months in the United States but had decided that he was too old for work in the meat industry there. Three months later he changed his mind and asked for an affidavit; Peck-Herschler, p. 81. See also Interview with Aynor.
134.See Rossmann mimeograph (immigration of a family of farmers to Eretz Israel); Karl Strauss, a Jewish merchant, also familiar with farming methods, emigrated with his family from the village of Flohnheim in Rheinhessen and set up a flourishing farm in Balfuria, Israel (interviews with family members conducted by the author).
