Chemnitz, Germany

CHEMNITZ (from 1953 until 1990 known as Karl Marx Stadt) Saxony, Germany. The first documentary evidence of Jews living in Chemnitz dates from 1357. After a residence ban on Jews was issued in 1539, no Jews settled in Chemnitz until the middle of the 19th century. Despite virulent anti-Semitism, a community of 101 developed in 1871. From 1875, welfare organizations were founded and religious services were held in private apartments. In 1876 a religious school was set up; a cemetery was established in 1879; and a rabbi was engaged in 1881. By 1890, the community numbered 955 people, and in 1899 a synagogue was consecrated where services were held in accordance with Liberal practices, including a synagogue choir. In 1903, a branch of the Central Union (C.V.) was founded, followed in 1906 by a local Zionist group. Around this time, Jews from Eastern Europe arrived in Chemnitz and during WWI some 1,200 East European Jews, who were expelled from Leipzig and Dresden, were interned near Chemnitz. The Chemnitz community council cared for these internees, many of whom became residents of the city. In 1925, the Jewish population was 3,500, of whom only 1,400 were German nationals. However, the immigrant East European Jews gained the right to vote in communal elections only after a bitter fight waged primarily by the Zionists. Even then they were not allowed to run for office. In the 1920s, in addition to the synagogue, there were two Orthodox prayer rooms and in 1922, Orthodox Jews set up a Talmud torah school, which had an enrollment of 200 children; 155 children attended the Liberal religious school. The community maintained welfare and sports associations, youth groups, and various Liberal and Zionist organizations. A cultural and administrative center opened in 1932. Most community members were self-employed (including, in 1930, 25 Jewish physicians and 12 lawyers) or employed as white-collar personnel. There were very few blue-collar workers. Jewish firms controlled 35% of the city's textile industry. In the Weimar period, two Jews served on the city council and one community member was the editor of a Communist newspaper. In 1927, Nazis attacked a Jew, who died from his injuries. When the Nazis came to power in 1933, the Jewish population was 2,796 (0.68% of the total). In the boycott of Jewish businesses that began on 1 April 1933, apartments were also searched and arrests made. A Jewish attorney was murdered and a Jewish manufacturer shot himself in order to escape “protective” custody. Even after the official end of the boycott, the measures continued. The city's Jewish theater director fled when he heard that the Nazis were searching for him. In 1935, there were still 2,387 Jews in Chemnitz and, according to Nazi statistics, there were still 118 Jewish stores and workshops. Eighteen physicians, seven dentists, and five lawyers were still practicing. From 1935, the clientele of Jewish businesses was increasingly harassed, and Aryanization measures were stepped up considerably. The community, which had published a community newspaper since 1933, expanded its internal cultural life with a whole range of sports, cultural, and educational activities. In spring 1938, the community finally received permission to set up a Jewish school, which in October 1938 was attended by 150 students. At this time a ban was imposed on the publication of the community newspaper, and 318 Jews of non-German citizenship were deported to Poland. On Kristallnacht (9-10 November 1938), the synagogue was set on fire and 171 Jews were arrested and brutally treated before they were taken to the Buchenwald concentration camp. One man was shot, another died in Buchenwald. Two died after their release from the after affects of their imprisonment. Rabbi Dr. Fuchs (in office since 1907) escaped arrest because a non-Jewish physician protected him. The community was presented with the bill for the clearing up operations after the rioting and in April 1939, it was compelled to sell the synagogue site. A prayer room was established elsewhere on a makeshift basis. In 1939, there were 2,096 Jews in Chemnitz; only a small percentage had emigrated. From this time on, Jews were billeted in so-called “Jew-houses" and conscripted for forced labor. In 1942, the Nazis closed down the Jewish school. There were six deportations to the east, from January 1942 to June 1943. There were two further operations aimed at those of partial Jewish descent (Mischlinge) in January 1944 and February 1945. A total of 2,000 Chemnitz Jews were deported. Almost all perished. A small community with 57 members was reestablished in 1945. By 1960 its membership had dwindled to 20.