Magdeburg, Germany

Jews are first mentioned in Magdeburg in 965. This early Jewish community was the oldest in the eastern part of Germany and represented the northernmost point of Jewish settlement in the 10th-11th centuries. The community suffered from several persecutions and expulsions. Nonetheless, the community flourished. Several known rabbis took up residence in Magdeburg and there were a yeshiva and a Beit Din. From the 14th century, most Jews lived in a quarter in the south of the city, where they also had their synagogue. A cemetery outside the city was established in the mid-13th century. In 1493, the Archbishop of Magdeburg decreed the expulsion of all Jews from the city and from the archbishopric. Jews were readmitted to Magdeburg in 1671, but because of the city council's hostility, a permanent settlement was only established under French rule at the beginning of the 19th century. In 1811 the community numbered 255. As early as 1809 a Jew was elected a member of the city council. Over the next 100 years, the community grew continuously owing to the increasing industrialization of Magdeburg. The Jewish population was 1,000 in 1859 and 1,935 in 1905. The community was shaped by its most famous rabbi, Dr. Ludwig Philippson (1811-89; rabbi of Magdeburg, 1833-62). Dr. Philippson, a leader of Liberal Judaism in Germany, initiated the establishment of one of the first Jewish religious schools in northern Germany in 1834 and the construction of a Reform synagogue with an organ and a choir in 1851. He also founded and edited the “Allgemeine Zeitung des Judentums”, the newspaper of Liberal German Judaism, which continued to appear in Magdeburg even after He left the city. Magdeburg was also the birthplace of several well-known Jewish politicians. In 1925, the Jewish population was 2,361 and included many immigrants from Easten Europe. The community maintained some 20 associations and societies, including welfare organizations and youth clubs; branches of the Central Union (C.V.), the Union for Liberal Judaism, and the German Zionist Organization; a B'nai B'rith lodge; and associations of the Jews from Eastern Europe. The community school had about 250 pupils and there were a children's home and a vocational training center for carpenters. In early 1933, the Jewish population was 1,973. As early as 1933, the town was blanketed with antisemitic slogans. The guests at a Jewish hotel were physically attacked. Very soon, Jews were economically and socially excluded from the city's life. Two Jews who were active members of the Communist Party were arrested in 1933 and 1934, respectively. In the first show trial, on charges of so-called "racial defilement" (Rassenschande) in 1935, a Jew from Magdeburg was sentenced to ten years' hard labor and lifetime preventive custody. On Kristallnacht (9-10 November 1938), the synagogue, as well as other community facilities, was completely destroyed; stores and homes were looted and wrecked; and 375 men were arrested, beaten up, and taken to the Buchenwald concentration camp. Of the 679 Jews who were living in Magdeburg in 1939, some 500 were deported to camps in the east where most perished. In July 1944, there were still 185 Jews living in Magdeburg, most of them of partial Jewish origin (Miscldinge) or protected by marriage to non-Jews. A new community was established in 1947, numbering about 100 members. By 1987, numbers had dropped to 29, but then grew due to the immigration of Jews from the former Soviet Union.