The Relations Between Community and Place

The relations between community and place

A CASE STUDY OF THE WEISSENSEE CEMETERY

Table of contents 1. Introduction ...... 3 1.1 Introducing the subject ...... 3 1.2 Background of the research ...... 3 1.3 Social relevance ...... 4 1.4 Academic relevance...... 4 1.5 Main goal of the research ...... 4 1.6 Research question ...... 4 1.7 Readers manual for the thesis ...... 5 2. Literature and theoretical framework ...... 6 2.1 Concepts ...... 6 2.1.1 Preservation and maintenance of cemeteries ...... 6 2.1.2 Geographical functions of cemeteries ...... 6 2.1.3 Historical context ...... 6 2.2 Theories ...... 7 2.2.1 Lieux de mémoire ...... 7 2.2.2 Place attachment and place identity ...... 7 2.2.3 Secularization in modern society ...... 8 2.3 Conceptual model ...... 8 3. Methodology ...... 9 3.1 Dividing research question in sub-questions...... 9 3.2 Research design ...... 9 3.3 Methods of data collection ...... 10 3.3.1 Documents ...... 10 3.3.2 Interviews ...... 10 3.3.3 Observations ...... 11 3.4 Methods of analysis ...... 11 4. Historical aspects of the Weissensee cemetery ...... 13 4.1 Pre-World War II circumstances ...... 13 4.1.1 Societal changes ...... 13 4.1.2 Physical changes ...... 14 4.2 Circumstances during World War II ...... 14 4.2.1 Societal effects ...... 15 4.2.2 Physical effects ...... 16

4.3 Post-World War II circumstances ...... 17 4.3.1 Societal changes ...... 17 4.3.2 Physical changes ...... 18 4.3.3 Changes under the East- and West-Berlin division ...... 18 4.4 Overview and findings ...... 19 5. Organizational structures of the Weissensee cemetery ...... 21 5.2 Changes after the Cold War ...... 21 5.3 Contemporary efforts ...... 22 5.4 Critiques...... 24 5.5 Overview and findings ...... 25 6. Academic efforts for the reputation of the Weissensee cemetery...... 27 6.1 UNESCO World Heritage...... 27 6.2 Inventory project ...... 27 6.3 New strategies ...... 29 6.4 Overview and findings ...... 29 7. Conclusions ...... 31 7.1 Answer to the main research question ...... 31 7.2 The relations between community and place ...... 31 7.3 Discussion ...... 31 7.4 Recommendation ...... 32 References ...... 33 Appendix 1. Log workweek Berlin ...... 35 Appendix 2. Transcript interview Gesine Sturm (LDA) ...... 36 Appendix 3. Transcript interview dr. Ewald Engler (Leibniz institute for Research on Society and Space) ...... 46 Appendix 4. Stability map ground plan Weissensee cemetery ...... 51

1. Introduction

1.1 Introducing the subject The Weissensee Jewish Cemetery in Berlin was once a thriving site where members of the Jewish community gathered to lay their relatives to rest, according to Jewish burial traditions. As each religion, Judaism is characterized by its historical path, which impacts how the Jewish religion and culture is desired to be preserved. The preservation of Jewish heritage is hereby strongly influenced by recent history, as many Jews were murdered by the Nazi regime in the Holocaust during World War II. After World War II, Jewish communities increasingly gathered and organized to recover from these disastrous events, by actively holding on to the Jewish identity (Shain & Barth, 2003). These organizations are characterized by their international structures, since many Jews left their residence in the Nazi-regime during and after the war.

In Berlin, before, during, and after World War II, the Jewish Community living there, suffered great losses with many members of the Jewish Community being murdered, forced to go into hiding or fleeing Nazi territory altogether. Beforehand, in the early twentieth century, the population of the Jewish Community had grown significantly. Most of these Jews originated from Eastern Europe, many of these Jews originating from Posen (nowadays Poland). Approaching the end of the 30’s, the size of the Jewish population in Berlin shrunk simultaneously with the threatening environments they encountered through the growing support of the antisemitic Nazi beliefs. With the ending of the war, many Jews that were still in Berlin and lucky to have survived the horrific genocide by the Nazis, emigrated to start a new life. Evidently, the Jewish Community of Berlin shifted from a flourishing organization with many members involved and institutions to manage, to a downsized community in great grief having to deal with the loss of many relatives and close friends.

Due to its historical path, with World War II as its most significant factor of change, the Jewish Community of Berlin was no longer able to maintain the level of organization needed to manage institutions as schools, medical services and cemeteries, to what they once were. On top of this, while emotional and economic recovery was still in process, the Jewish Community of Berlin endured another significant change. When Berlin was split up during the Cold War, the Jewish Community of Berlin was split up alongside these new borders of East and West Berlin. From this moment on, the Jewish community were estranged and both experienced unequal developments between 1961 and 1989. Alongside these events, cemeteries for the Jewish Community were rearranged. The West Berlin Jewish Community founded a its own cemetery, whereas the Weissensee Jewish cemetery that was now located in East Berlin continued to exist but under circumstances of neglect.

This thesis focuses on the relationship of the community involved in the Weissensee cemetery. In order to understand the state the cemetery is in today, historical factors that shaped the site are of great importance. In exploring the associations that are currently involved in the state of the cemetery, its past has to be taken into consideration continuously. In this, the state of the cemetery as a general term is divided in the concepts of maintenance, preservation and representation. 1.2 Background of the research This thesis will further explore the relations between community and place. For this purpose, the Weissensee Jewish cemetery of Berlin and the community active in managing this site are selected, because of the historical significance of the cemetery. The grounds of the cemetery were allocated to the Jewish community in 1880, when the Industrial Revolution brought wealth to the Jewish community in the city (Jewish Community of Berlin, 2011). From then on, the cemetery thrived as an

3 institution with approximately a dozen burials a day and 200 employees taking care of the site (Wauer, 2010). However, World War II resulted in a change of management for the site, with a limited number of people looking after the cemetery as the size of the Jewish Community of Berlin shrunk significantly. Although surprisingly, the cemetery suffered limited demolitions by the Nazi regime that ruled in Berlin, some tombstones suffered damage due to military action from the allies nearing the end of the war. Also, Jews going into hiding, also referred to as U-boats, used the tombstones as temporary shelter in staying out of the hands of the Nazis. As for the cemetery functioning its purpose during the war, unoccupied land on the cemetery grounds were used for secret burials of deceased U-boat Jews. After the war, and with the Cold War that followed, the cemetery was never brought back to its pre- war condition. 1.3 Social relevance This research aims to better understand historical aspects and social structures, by determining how interaction and organization relate to the Weissensee cemetery. Social structures are context dependent and as for the case of this research, the historical context plays a significant role. This research tends to let the past meet the present, by exploring how the Weissensee cemetery is related to a sense of community. Through these social structures, an important historical legacy for society is being preserved. With the existence of social structures serving the cemetery, the cemetery is able to function as a public site for whoever wants to learn about its past. 1.4 Academic relevance Current academic literature on the Weissensee cemetery is very much widespread and each serving its own purpose. Resources are characterized by either focusing on the historical path of the Weissensee cemetery, or focusing on organizational aspects such as the documents supporting the UNESCO World Heritage application. However, the social structures related to the maintenance and reproduction of the cemetery have not clearly been reviewed yet by combining these with historical and academic aspects. Although historical research within the field of World War II, the Holocaust and Jewish communities is established in the academic world, a more focused research on the preservation, maintenance and representation of the Weissensee cemetery is not yet accounted for. 1.5 Main goal of the research The main goal of the research is to explore the structures and connections between place and community. To provide a better understanding of the current status of maintenance of the Weissensee cemetery, research is conducted that explores how social structures related to the site are characterized. In this, the Weissensee cemetery is approached from the perspective that the cemetery forms the foundation of its own community, both now and in the past. 1.6 Research question As abovementioned, the research aims to explore and clarify how processes of community formation are related to the maintenance, preservation and representation of the Weissensee cemetery as a site of remembrance. The research question is formulated as following:

Which historical aspects and associations are crucial in preserving, maintaining and representing the geographical functions of the Weissensee cemetery from World War II onwards?

In order to provide an answer to the main research question, subdivisions among the concepts are constructed. Firstly, the state of the cemetery is explained through its historical pathway. Secondly, social structures responsible for the physical maintenance of the cemetery will be explored. By this, actors and organizations putting effort in the maintenance an restorations of the cemetery will be outlined. Lastly, the representation of the cemetery in academic spheres will be reviewed. These

4 documents are in particular characterized as contributors to the reputation of the cemetery, in aiming to add the cemetery on the German tentative list and eventually on the UNESCO World Heritage list. 1.7 Readers manual for the thesis The following section presents a theoretical framework, the definitions of the concepts formulated in the subject, theories supporting the empirical research and the conceptual model. The research methods of the research describes the process of the empirical research, the research design, the methods of data collection and the methods of analysis. Then, the empirical segment of the thesis portray the gathered data, alongside the analysis of the data. In order for the thesis being clearly structured, this segment is split up in three. The historical aspects in relation to the wellbeing of the Weissensee cemetery will first be discussed. Then, the focus will shift towards more contemporary points of action concerning the maintenance and preservation of the cemetery. Lastly, selected literature contributing to the efforts of landing the cemetery its candidateship on the tentative list, as well as its aim of being admitted to the UNESCO world heritage list will be assessed. Finally, the thesis will reach towards its end when the conclusions sum up the final thoughts.

2. Literature and theoretical framework

2.1 Concepts The concepts described in the research question are defined, to provide a better understanding of the content of the research. 2.1.1 Preservation and maintenance of cemeteries Within this research, preservation and maintenance are considered to be two separate points of action. Stadlbauer et al. (1996) uses the concept preservation concerning the Weissensee cemetery in the restoration of tombstones, attempting to bring these back to their original state as they were destroyed and deteriorated through war violence or negligence. Matero & Peter (2007) build further on the preservation of tombstones by emphasizing that an understanding of its past is essential. Within this research, the concept of preservation will be defined as the attempts of bringing elements of the cemetery back to their original state considerate of its historical features. To further specify this perspective in line of the thesis, the preservation of tombstones does not necessarily entails adding new material except when this is serving to hold structures that otherwise inevitably will collapse. The term preservation is compatible with the term restoration, because preservation represents both the recovery of the physical aspects and its historical value, whereas restoration might appear to be a limited concept where physical features are being repaired. In this, the preservation of the cemetery justifies its existence based on long term decisions and actions.

Maintenance however is approached as a point of action based on decisions and actions with short term perspectives, focused on the daily management of the Weissensee cemetery. Capels & Senville (2006) explain in their article how people visit cemeteries with the motive to contemplate or visit such sites for recreational purposes or for its cultural value. In this, they state, maintenance has to be in order to be accessible to visitors. The existence of the cemetery is ensured through maintenance, focused on the cemetery being presentable and accessible to its visitors. Maintenance work can be considered a more overall point of action, whereas preservation or restoration work focuses on specific elements in need of recovery. 2.1.2 Geographical functions of cemeteries Francis (2003) distinguishes the several cultural purposes of a cemetery as being a symbolic remembrance of the death as well as containing historical artefacts representing the past. Through this perspective, cemeteries represent the past through the people buried there as well as through the physical characteristics of tombstones. The geographical functions of the Weissensee cemetery will therefore be explained through its actual purpose as a site where people are buried, but also as a representation of Jewish culture and a physical documentation of history. 2.1.3 Historical context The Weissensee cemetery is a site that is highly subjected to its past, where historical events influenced the cemetery in various ways. These historical aspects and particular historic events that directly relate to the cemetery, will be thoroughly discussed in the course of the thesis. Therefore, it is important to have a clear understanding of the historical context from a broader perspective, the situation in Berlin during these events. In this, a selection is made where the situation in Berlin during World War II and the Cold War is briefly addressed in the two paragraphs below.

I. Berlin and World War II From the early 30’s, the Nazi party gradually gained support from groups within the Berliner society. Partly, this was due to economic crises that had affected Western-Europe, which had also hit the city

6 of Berlin resulting in high unemployment rates. The Nazi party was able to speak to the needs of the city at that time, while it was dealing with these economic setbacks affecting society (Klußmann, 2012). The support for a socialist Germany eventually resulted in 31.3% of the Berlin voters in favor of the Nazi party in 1932. From this moment on the popularity of the party kept swelling, eventually leading to a complete Nazi takeover in Germany, with Berlin serving as the capital of the Third Reich. The Nazi regime was characterized by its violent antisemitic propaganda in 1933, but Berlin was also home to a population of 170,000 Jews around that time (Jewish Community of Berlin, 2011). In 1938, many Synagogues and other Jewish establishments were demolished during Kristallnacht, alongside with many Berlin Jews being murdered or arrested (Webb, 2010). From that moment on, the hatred against Jews resulted in more permanent extinction measures until the fall of the Nazi regime and Berlin, with the help of allied forces in 1945. After the war, the Nazi persecution and murdering of Jews resulted in only 5.000 of all the Jews still residing in Berlin (Wauer, 2010).

II. Berlin and the Cold War With the ending of World War II the allied powers divided the city of Berlin in four parts, each of these powers occupying their own newly allocated territories (Kaplan, 2009). With the French, U.S. and British powers representing Western values and The Soviet Union representing the communist ideology, the city developed a border between West- and East Berlin. Eventually, these conflicting ideologies hardened the borders of the two entities residing Berlin. With Berlin being located in what has become the German Democratic Republic (GDR), falling under the ruling of the communist Soviet Union, many Eastern Europeans were escaping the regime through West-Berlin. In order to prevent anti-communists of escaping the regime through West-Berlin, Soviets leader Khrushchev in 1961 gave the orders to occupy the borders of East- and West-Berlin. Eventually this border was physically realized through a wall, increasingly differentiating the city in two. The wall remained until it was torn down in 1989, alongside the end of the Soviet Union. Up until this point, the two city parts experienced their own development initiated by the power and ideology they were ruled by. 2.2 Theories The presented theories form a framework in supporting the empirical data of the research. 2.2.1 Lieux de mémoire With the theory of ‘lieux de mémoire’ by Nora (1989), it is explained how historical sites embody the collective memory of society. Distinction is made between direct memories of past events and the way we tend to organize the past, through history. Eventually, all memories transform in history. A memory is a fragment of the past, already adjusted and selected into what societies desires to remember and present in their collective heritage. Through this theory, sites are linked to the historic events they embody by their symbolic status to society. The collective memory is recognized and acknowledged in historical sites alongside with its artefacts, based on what historical aspects they represent. A place with a considerate symbolic and historic value is through lieux de mémoire a physical establishment of a collective past. 2.2.2 Place attachment and place identity In order to preserve these ‘places of memory’, these memories can solely be continued over time when organized accordingly maintaining accessibility. Manzo & Perkins (2006) outline the importance of ‘place attachment’ by communities in order for continuation of its purpose. Place attachment is defined as an affective bond between people and place. The efforts of people concerning a place is further explained by the ‘place identity’, where one’s identity corresponds with that of a place in terms of beliefs, values, feelings, goals or preferences. Through these theories people’s affiliation to a certain place creates a common ground, resulting in people to organize in order to serve this place. Community

7 formation here occurs where a site is considered a common ground by a group of likeminded people with the desire to organize. 2.2.3 Secularization in modern society Casanova (2006) distinguishes three types of definitions for the term secularization that each represent a certain level of modernity. The most classic approach to secularization explains differentiation in the secular environments, where a religion or belief is subjected to the core of politics, economics and science. A more modern approach that would be more applicable to modern society, defines secularization as the privatization of religion through institutes. Finally, a newly adapted term that is gaining support in literature, values secularization as the decline of religious beliefs as being part of a developmental process. These definitions imply, that modernization has devalued the importance of religion in society. To build further on the development of the term, Casanova (2006) claims that the most modern, and newly formulated, definition of secularization is now the most accepted in literature. Gog (2016) addresses modernization alongside secularization by stating how religious organizations on societal level, acknowledge the need for reinventing their boundaries, in order to function in the modernizing societies that they find themselves in. Since a religion is based upon commonly adopted beliefs based off a origin story leading back to history far back, the need for modernization can be evident. 2.3 Conceptual model The conceptual model (figure 1) is a visualization of a generalized concept where the relations between the Weissensee cemetery and its active community go both ways. On the one hand, the active community of the Weissensee cemetery is responsible for preserving, maintaining and representing the cemetery. On the other hand, when this concept is flipped, it represents the phenomenon where a site, the Weissensee cemetery, is the reason for this community to exist. Had the cemetery not been in need of a certain level of involvement, for any reason whatsoever, then this community obviously would have not have had the urge to each step forward, each from their own perspective representing a certain motive. Therefore, the cemetery as an institution serves in the generation of this community, serves as a common ground and common interest for this community and lastly, contains physical remains of historical aspects of value to the community.

Figure 1. Conceptual model. Source: author

3. Methodology

The methodologic concepts applied in this chapter are based on the book ‘Social Research Methods’ by Bryman (2012). 3.1 Dividing research question in sub-questions. The research is divided into three sub-questions. The first sub-question focuses on historical aspects in relation to the cemetery, covering a time frame from World War II onwards, with World War II and the Cold War as key events. The second sub-question presents current points of action in terms of the maintenance- and preservation work that is executed. The third sub-questions focuses on selected literature that represent and address the view of the Weissensee cemetery as a rightful candidate for both the tentative list and the UNESCO world heritage list. The three sub-questions as discussed, are formulated as following:

1. How are historical aspects related to the maintenance and preservation of the Weissensee cemetery? 2. How are contemporary organizational structures, related to the maintenance and preservation of the Weissensee cemetery, constructed? 3. How is the Weissensee cemetery represented in literature that aims to contribute to the reputation of the Weissensee cemetery?

The three sub-questions altogether provide an answer to the main research question:

Which historical aspects and associations are crucial in preserving, maintaining and representing the geographical functions of the Weissensee cemetery from World War II onwards? 3.2 Research design This research is conducted as a qualitative study, since the focus lies within exploring the relationship between a geographical site, the Weissensee cemetery, and the community that is connected to this place through its efforts in contributing to its state of wellbeing. The constructivist assumption within the research is that the cemetery is not a fixed place, but rather formed by underlying social structures affecting the wellbeing of the cemetery. The cemetery is considered an institution of its own, however organized and managed by people. These people are part of social structures from where each one takes their part in the institution, in this case it being the cemetery. Particularly in the case of a cemetery, the involved actors are diverse and do not deliver input from similar backgrounds. The interpretivist assumption of the research explains that interpreting social structures concerning the cemetery produces knowledge as it provides an insight in the process of a place as the foundation of a community. The former simultaneously represents the nature of the research through induction, where observations lead to theorizing the social structures of the Weissensee cemetery.

The research design is further characterized as a single case study. This explains that one specific case forms the base of the research, where no comparative cases and aspects are included. In this research, the unique characteristics of the Weissensee cemetery form the base of knowledge in order to theorize the findings. These unique structures, that are very much context dependent, are significant for the Weissensee cemetery and thus initially excludes the generated theories being applicable to other cemeteries.

Also, the research is approached as holistic, meaning that individual achievements by actors are scaled under achievements for the community of the Weissensee cemetery as a whole. Individual

9 achievements are of importance to the research, but serve as a contribution to the exploration of how the community is constructed. 3.3 Methods of data collection Collecting data is performed through examining documentation, through conducting in depth- interviews and through observations at the site itself. These tree methods of data collection are all supportive to one another and appear as complementary elements in the data analysis. 3.3.1 Documents The nature of the documents contributing to the empirical research, differentiate between the three main themes of the research. Firstly, documentation on the historical pathway of the Weissensee cemetery as an institution is explored. These records support the first sub-question, where the past of the cemetery enables to explain the current state of maintenance and preservation of the cemetery. Secondly, documentation of the cemetery in terms of current efforts concerning maintenance and preservation. These records support the second sub-question, focusing on contemporary social structures that contribute to a certain level of maintenance and preservation. Lastly, documents that aim to contribute to the reputation of the cemetery are presented. In order to maintain a focused perspective on what is considered a contribution to the reputation of the cemetery, the main focus lies upon literature concerning the aim for the German tentative list submission in achieving candidateship to the UNESCO World Heritage list. The reviewed documents used for the research are solely English resources, excluding German resources because of language limitations. Documents are mostly obtained through the Jewish Archives, the Jewish library that is part of the Jewish Museum in Berlin, that was frequently visited during the workweek in Berlin. English resources were thoroughly reviewed and besides that, German literature that was found was used for the images that these books contain. In order to include and compare these images with own observations, photocopies were made. 3.3.2 Interviews The process of selecting interviewees is primarily based on expertise. The interviewees contain sufficient knowledge in order to contribute to the aim of the research. In example interviewees can be actors within the Weissensee community, experts in Jewish heritage, experts in historical geography or any other contributors related to the cemetery. A workweek from 11/11/2018 to 16/11/2018 was scheduled to conduct these interviews in Berlin. Beforehand, potential interviewees were contacted to schedule interviews. Due to language limitations, meaning that the spoken language during the interviews could only be English, only two respondents were willing to cooperate. The aim was to include multiple parties in the process of gathering data, but the language limitations prevented this purpose. Because of this, the content of the interviews was valued considerate of the possibility that an individual perspective might not be able to cover both sides to a story. Therefore, the role of the interviews were taken to a lower level of valuation, whereas the role of the documentation gained a more prominent status. The table below (figure 2) shows the interviewees that are, or from the perspective of the researcher, should have been included in the research. All of these parties were contacted, through telephone or e-mail, in order to request and arrange a date and time for conducting interviews. The two parties in bold, were eventually interviewed and are represented in the data used in the research. Both interviewees granted permission for recording the interview, as well as using their names in the research. In this, dr. Ewald Engler desired the information discussed to only be for personal publication purposes and Gesine Sturm emphasized how the information discussed is considered to be her personal perspective on the subject rather than representing the Berlin Monument Authority as a whole.

Organization Approached Function Relation to the Interviewed individual/department Weissensee yes/no within the cemetery organization Jewish Department of Institute that Direct No Community of religious affairs directly owns management Berlin and manages the cemetery Weissensee Back- and front-office Daily Direct No Jewish cemetery personnel management of management – the cemetery on site Berlin Gesine Sturm Responsible for Managing Yes Monument all historic initiatives and Authority gardens and funds in favor of cemeteries in the cemetery berlin Centrum Dr. Hermann Simon Former- Bottom-up No Judaicum, New chairman initiatives Synagogue Anja Siegemund Chairman Unknown No Leibniz Institute Dr. Ewald Engler Historian Expert Yes for Research on concerning the Society and former road Space plans Figure 2. Table of approached contacts. 3.3.3 Observations Since the thesis is structured around the former and current state of the Weissensee cemetery, the site has been visited multiple times during the workweek in Berlin, that took place between 11/11/2018 and 16/11/2018. Each of these visits served their own purpose whereas the first visit was a general exploration of the site. The other visits during the course of the week contained a more focused perspective, due to gathered knowledge on particular tombstones that occurred in the documents. Photos were taken of selected tombstones that portray restoration efforts, some recently restored and others that have been restored for a longer period of time. Also, impression photos were taken that represent elements such as overgrowing, demolition and negligence. Finally, photos were taken of the German Military during their two week maintenance command that annually takes place. For this photo, permission was granted after they had removed their nametags in order to grant for their privacy. In terms of these observations, it has to be clear that these include material and noticeable elements of the cemetery and not the observation of social structures and interactions on the site. Appendix 1 consists of a log that specifies the tasks that were carried out per day during the workweek in Berlin. 3.4 Methods of analysis After the process of gathering data through documents, interviews and observations, all the data is compiled and organized in order to construct answers to the formulated research questions. Firstly, data analysis is supported by the theoretical framework based on the grounded theory. The grounded theory entails the iterative process where a phenomenon is theorized. In this case, the phenomenon is the community involved in the Weissensee cemetery and the theoretical assumption is that the Weissensee cemetery is the basis for the construction of this community.

Data analysis will further be performed through thematic analysis, where relations and their connections are explained. For all three types of data, documents, interviews and observations, their relation to each of the three sub-questions is examined. In order to successfully analyze and structure the data, their content was clearly organized and valued in how they contribute to answering the sub- questions. Furthermore, all the data is compiled per sub-question as they have been made compatible to one another in covering all that is required to efficiently provide an overview on the question that is answered. Since the empirical data contains only two interviews, the valuation of its content will be conducted by hand instead of thematic analysis with the help of a computer program.

Since the thesis is characterized by telling a story, the analysis of the presented data is discussed in the last segment of each sub-question. The reasons for deciding on such structure lies in the desire to keep the story intact, while simultaneously providing a focused analysis at the end of each subchapter.

4. Historical aspects of the Weissensee cemetery

The data presented and analyzed in this chapter, answers the first sub-question:

How are historical aspects related to the maintenance and preservation of the Weissensee cemetery?

In this segment of the research the main focus lies upon World War II, that brought along many changes in the social, physical and organizational structures of the cemetery. Subsequently, the Cold War in relation to the cemetery is discussed, but based upon the characteristics that changed the cemetery during World War II. The historical pathway of the cemetery is essential in gaining an understanding of the current status of the cemetery. 4.1 Pre-World War II circumstances The grounds for the Weissensee Jewish cemetery were issued to the Jewish Community of Berlin in 1880 (Jewish Community of Berlin, 2011). The need for a new burial ground for the Jewish Community of Berlin can be explained through a process of cause and effect. Firstly, the Jewish Community experienced significant growth, to a population of about 65,000 by 1875. This meant the 5 hectare of the then current cemetery at Schonnhauser Allee was getting occupied at a higher rate. Alongside this, Jewish Burial traditions have determined that a grave is issued for eternity and is never allowed to be cleared in order to make room for new graves (Raphael, 2009). With the growing population and the Jewish afterlife traditions allowing a gravesite its existence throughout eternity, the cemetery at Schonnhauser Allee was reaching its limits. An answer to this matter was the 42 hectare Weissensee cemetery, half a kilometer wide and a kilometer long. In the course of the 1920-‘s, the Jewish population in Berlin reached to around 170,000 members, the largest Jewish community in Germany. A parallel to the size of the community, can be the frequencies of activity at the Weissensee cemetery. At this time, the cemetery employed 200 staff members taking care of daily maintenance tasks, alongside 67 officials monitoring Jewish traditions during funerals with all of these employees working under the supervision of 18 commission members. On an average daily basis, a dozen traditional burials took place (Wauer, 2010). However, this number halved in reaching the mid 1930-‘s when the Nazi-regime gained support in Berlin, causing 30.000 Jews in Berlin to emigrate.

This political shift, with the increase in supporters of the Nazi-regime, sparked by economical setbacks, caused changes in the social spheres in Berlin (Klußmann, 2012). These societal changes concern the relations between the Jewish and the Non-Jewish residents in the city, but also changes within the Jewish Community of Berlin. The relation between the Jewish and Non-Jewish residents of Berlin became tense, due to the antisemitic standpoints of the Nazi-regime, that intensified through regulations denying Jews access to public and private establishments. Within the Jewish community, fear for the growing support for the Nazi-regime and thus a growing support for antisemitism, lead to the migration number of 30,000, as mentioned. These changes in society, taking place around the mid 1930-‘s in Berlin, approaching what will later be World War II, affected the Weissensee cemetery in several ways, which will be further discussed. 4.1.1 Societal changes Before discussing how the Weissensee was negatively affected by the rise of the Nazi-regime in Berlin, a rather positive phenomenon can be distinguished. In this, it is emphasized how the term positive is approached with certain care. However, the Weissensee cemetery did function as a safe place for the Jewish Community during this period. Jews gradually got banned from public places such as parks, but also from private establishments as bars, restaurants and stores. Now, the Jewish community was forced to increasingly rely on places and services that were run by fellow members of the Jewish

Community. Since the Weissensee Cemetery was allocated to the Community as Jewish ground, it became a place where Jews were able to move around and gather themselves without violating anti- Jew regulations or being harassed based upon their religious background. Subsequently, when eventually children got banned from schools and were unable to spend their imposed free time in public playgrounds or even on the streets, Jewish families brought their children to the Weissensee cemetery (Wauer, 2010). On the cemetery grounds they were allowed to play with their peers, but also had to help the staff members with maintenance duties. A second aspect that can be considered as a rather positive function the cemetery was able to fulfill in these insecure times for the community, was the initiative where Jews were prepared for migration. In this, one of the nursery buildings functioned as a training establishment for Jews that aspired to migrate. Eventually, by 1939, this developed further into a training center for Jewish students that were banned from the German Technical College. This training center focused on educating garden cultivation, with the aim to prepare its students for life in Israel. 4.1.2 Physical changes Besides the cemetery functioning as a safe place for the Jewish Community of Berlin, by 1938 the cemetery already underwent significant physical changes. Since the Nazi’s emphasized the need for expansion of the Third Reich outside German borders, they had to expand their weaponry. For the expanding German war industry, raw materials where scarce. In order to subtract material, ironwork from tombstones were taken by the Nazi’s (Rütenik et al., 2013). Image 1 most likely represents an example of missing ironwork from a row of tombs. These gravesites were provided with iron gate works before taken down, leaving the stone headings to rest on the remaining ironwork. The traces of the former ironwork can be recognized in where the gates were initially attached in the stone demarcations, that show leftover iron bulges. To add to this observation, all the graves in the row date from before 1938, the year when the Nazis imposed these physical changes. In the row of graves displayed in the picture, the youngest gravestone dates from 1936 (the grave of Ludwig Landshoff, second headstone from the left).

Image 1. Row of tombs with missing ironwork. Photo credits: author 4.2 Circumstances during World War II Eventually, when Berlin became the Nazi capital in World War II from 1939 until 1945, the Jewish Community in Berlin and the Weissensee cemetery underwent even more changes in the social and physical environment. Jewish residents in Berlin were forced by the antisemitic Nazi regime to either

14 illegally migrate to safer lands or go into hiding (U-boat Jews) on own initiatives, or were unwillingly captured and murdered on the initiative of the Nazis and its supporters.

As Sturm (2018) emphasizes as one of the main unique historical aspects of the cemetery, the cemetery was never closed or shut down by the Nazis under their ruling. This means that the Weissensee cemetery remained an open institution during World War II, extraordinary in times where Jewish institutions as schools where forcingly shut down. This partly enabled the gravesite, just as during the pre-war conditions, to function as a support for the then remaining Jewish Community in Berlin in several ways. However, this will not be discussed as a positive aspect since the alternative for the site providing support during emergency situations, under pitiful circumstances, most likely had resulted in Jews being captured or murdered. 4.2.1 Societal effects A number of stories by Holocaust survivors, gathered by Wauer (2010), tell how in times of despair hiding Jews relied on the Weissensee cemetery to temporarily bury valuables or essentials like food stamps. Numerously addressed by Wauer (2010) as well as the official institution of the Jewish Community of Berlin (2011), is how hiding U-boat Jews, sometimes were forced to spend the night at the cemetery. An example of a tombstone used by U-boats to spend the night in, is that of Joseph Schwarz (see image 2). As the left part of the picture shows, the tombstone consists of a two story design, resembling a Greek temple. At the center of tomb, at the ground level, is the memorial stone for Joseph Schwarz where most likely his casket is laying underneath. Thanks to the set of windows, as displayed in the right photo of image 2, U-boats were able to climb into the roof of the tomb and hide without being noticed by surveillants during their overnight stay.

Image 2. Tombstone of Joseph Schwarz, front view and inside view. Photo credits: author

Although the cemetery never closed and remained an active institution, relatives, members of the Jewish community and members of the underground providing aid to the Jewish Community were not able to openly bury deceased Jews that went into hiding under their supervision. Therefore, secret burials took place at the Weissensee cemetery, unauthorized and illegally, at night (Jewish Community of Berlin, 2011). For these illegal burials, the underground movement involved in this process, specifically selected a location at the cemetery for this to take place. With the allocation of the cemetery grounds to the Jewish Community of Berlin in 1880, the community agreed to entirely refrain a strip of land from burials going right through the middle of the cemetery’s surface, in order for a future road to be built. Because of the significant size of the cemetery, the municipality foresaw future

15 planning issues in maintaining the connectivity of Berlin (Engler, 2018). Since was expected that around the Weissensee cemetery, neighborhoods would be developed in later stadia of a growing Berlin in need of housing, a road to connect these neighborhoods was seemingly necessary. However, during World War II the site of the planned road specifically, was not under surveillance by the Nazis. Image 3 displays the ground plan of the Weissensee cemetery. The strip of land that initially was designated to form a future road is separately delineated in the original plan and categorically numbered stretching over field ‘A8’, ‘B8’, ‘C8’, ‘D8’ and ‘E8’. For the purpose of clarity, the specific area is outlined by a red framework, following the demarcations of the original ground plan. The ground plan originates from the foundation of the cemetery in 1880 and thus shows how the future road plans were already incorporated in the original plan.

Image 3. Ground plan Weissensee cemetery. Source: Flickr user Sebastian Berlin

4.2.2 Physical effects The physical changes the cemetery underwent, became more evident with the great losses within the Jewish Community in Berlin where many Jews migrated, went into hiding, were captured, murdered or vanished and so on. By 1942, the staff consisted of 100 remaining community members but it was said they were overburdened with the increase of deceasing Jews in the city (Wauer, 2010). With the decrease in staff members, upkeeping the daily maintenance of the cemetery started to become a troubling task to fulfill. By 1943, the staff consisted of 12 remaining community members that had escaped the faith of deportation thanks to their non-Jewish partners. Taking into consideration that during the heydays of the cemetery, the eye could see without being blocked by trees, this evidently changed. Thanks to daily maintenance by a staff of 200 men before World War II ignited, the cemetery remained a well-kept and open field of graves. However, according to Orthodox Jewish burial traditions, one should be buried in a wooden casket, pinned down with wooden nails and the corpse should be dressed in specific attire that is also easy decomposable material (Raphael, 2009). When a corpse is decomposed, the ground becomes highly fertile for plant species to grow (Uslu et al., 2009). This compost, alongside the lack of daily maintenance during the peaks of World War II, enabling plant seeds to disperse, resulted in trees and ivy to freely grow and eventually in nature taking over the

16 gravesite as can be viewed in image 4. The image shows both uncoordinated tree-growth and ivy overgrowing tombstones.

Concerning destructions directly caused by war violence, as Sturm (2018) also brings up in the interview, the Nazis surprisingly spared the Weissensee cemetery, for unknown reasons. However, according to the Jewish Community of Berlin (2011) the cemetery suffered 51 severe and 17 minor cases of (mostly) allied bombing. The most significant damage that was done to the cemetery during World War II, was the New Hall of Mourning that was destroyed by a bombing raid and burned to the ground. The former site now consists of a hill, because of the ruins being overgrown by grass (see image 9), and is located in front of field UI and UII on the ground plan displayed in image 3.

Image 4. Gravesite overgrown by trees and ivy. Photo credits: author 4.3 Post-World War II circumstances Although World War II represents the beginning of a consistent negligence of daily maintenance of the Weissensee cemetery, post-war events contributed to this process even more. Again, societal and physical aspects contributing to the negligence of the cemetery can be distinguished. 4.3.1 Societal changes Firstly, because of the thinned out Jewish Community Berlin, there was a great lack of members involved in improving the status of the cemetery. Mostly, this meant a lack of financial influx that proceeded after the war. The financial resources were severely limited because the Jews that were lucky enough to return, were taken away their valuables, houses and capital and thus fell into poverty. Also, many Jews that had enclosed a payed maintenance contract for the gravesite of that of their relatives, or maybe that of themselves in case of family plots, had died in the Holocaust (Wauer, 2010). As Jewish burial traditions outline, a grave is obtained for eternity and shall not be removed. An example of a family plot with family members that were planned to be buried with their relatives, but likely died elsewhere during the war, is displayed in image 5. This example is one of many to be found at the cemetery, where unengraved headstones represent family members that were supposed to be buried together with their relatives, but never were. The photo shows the ‘David Misch’ family plot, as inscribed at the center top of the tomb, where only the first headstone on the left, and the last three

17 headstones on the right are engraved. The six headstones in the middle of the family plot remain unused, but were presumably intended for relatives that did not return from the war. An additional detail that implies that the generation of this family had to endure World War II can be recognized in the first left headstone where underneath the enscription of Alice Guhrauer (néé Sandberg), the name Gustav Sandberg is engraved with the date of death being the 28th of december 1940. This means that the other relatives that eventually were planned to be buried alongside the latest passing family member in 1940, were still alive by that date or unable to be buried at the cemetery.

Image 5. David Misch family plot with unengraved headstones. Photo credits: author 4.3.2 Physical changes Another post-war event that further contributed to the negligence of the Weissensee cemetery, is an evident physical change in the ground plan of Berlin alongside the Cold War. When Berlin was divided in two, West Berlin fell under the Western allied powers and East Berlin fell under the communist Soviet power. This simultaneously meant a division in the already small Jewish Community of Berlin that was left after the war (Sturm, 2018). The Jewish Community in Berlin split up according to the borders of East- and West-Berlin. Unfortunately, the grounds of the Weissensee cemetery were located in East-Berlin as displayed in image 6. The black arrow is added to portray the exact location of the Weissensee cemetery in East-Berlin. 4.3.3 Changes under the East- and West-Berlin division After the war, the East- and West-Berlin border increasingly hardened, eventually leading up to the construction of a wall as a physical division between the two city-parts in 1961 (Kaplan, 2009). Due to the communist regime, East-Berlin suffered less prosperity than their fellow residents in West-Berlin. The same goes up for the Jewish Community in East- and West-Berlin and this affected the Weissensee cemetery significantly. The Jewish Community in West-Berlin answered to the division by forcingly having to cut off financial support to the Weissensee cemetery and by founding a new cemetery on West-Berlin territory. With a lack of financial support from both East- and West-Berlin, but also due to a lack of interest by the Jewish communities on both sides, the cemetery fell into great despair of negligence and was numerously vandalized by antisemitic communists (Sturm, 2018).

Image 6. East- and West division of Berlin. Source: Maps Berlin 4.4 Overview and findings The data that is presented, related to the historical aspects of the Weissensee cemetery, outlines the process from prosperity to neglect. The cemetery continued to thrive from its founding in 1880 up until approaching World War II. The war caused a significant decrease in staff members taking care of the cemetery which pressured the state of maintenance, causing uncoordinated tree growth and ivy working its way through tombstones affecting the stability of the constructions. To add to this, as the Jewish Community of Berlin diminished significantly and fell into poverty, financial resources became scarce. These arguments represent the starting point of negligence, continuing through the Cold War that followed. As the Weissensee cemetery was located in East-Berlin, little efforts was punt in maintaining the cemetery from both the East- and West-Berlin Jewish Communities.

The historical pathway of the Weissensee cemetery is partly complying with the theory of place attachment and place identity, by Manzo & Perkins (2006). The theory explains how place attachment represents an affective bond between a person and place, that is essential for the site to continue its purpose. Furthermore, place identity expands the theory by adding to a sense of common ground through, in the case of the Weissensee cemetery, religion. From founding the cemetery in 1880, up until approaching the start of World War II, the cemetery functioned as an essential institution for the Jewish Community of Berlin. With the growing tenseness approaching World War II and during World War II, the cemetery functioned as a safe place. However, as the phase of neglect seems to imply a lack of place attachment and place identity, the contextual aspects should be taken into account. This argument, tends to explain how the phase of neglect was not caused by a lack of place attachment or place identity. Rather, the phase of neglect is caused by the circumstances that affected the Weissensee cemetery during and after World War II. The Jewish Community of Berlin that remained to reside in Berlin after the war, lacked of financial resources to maintain the cemetery. In this, one can however question as to why the cemetery had put limited efforts in bringing back its organizational structure back to its former state, where 200 staff members maintained the site.

Another observation can be drawn from the nature of the Jewish community in Berlin related to the historical pathway of the cemetery, where cohesion within the community appears to be strong before and during World War II. In this, the definition of secularization representing the evident privatization of religion seems most accurate (Casanova, 2006). During this time span, the Weissensee cemetery thrived as a Jewish institution. However, after World War II the nature of the Jewish Community in Berlin irreversibly changed due to the Holocaust costing many lives. This simultaneously does not imply that because of the negligence of the cemetery, the secularization assumption shifted to a decline in belief. Rather, it represents the damage and oppression that continuously proceeded after the War, with the cemetery being located in East-Berlin.

5. Organizational structures of the Weissensee cemetery

The data presented and analyzed in this chapter, answers the second sub-question:

How are contemporary organizational structures, related to the maintenance and preservation of the Weissensee cemetery, constructed?

In this segment of the research the main focus lies upon the current status of the cemetery, related to maintenance and preservation. The organizational structure of the cemetery is explained not only based upon how the Jewish Community manages the site, but also through initiatives from various actors that put effort in contributing to the status of maintenance of the cemetery. 5.2 Changes after the Cold War The Cold War came to its end in Berlin, when the Berlin Wall was torn down in 1989. As for the Weissensee cemetery, this meant a new phase of revival from great neglect to a growing interest in the status of the cemetery (Wauer, 2010). From the early 90-‘s onwards, several prominent tombstones underwent restoration work. By then, and still to this day, the current organizational structure of the Weissensee cemetery remained to be unchanged, as the grounds are owned by the Jewish Community of Berlin. This official Jewish institute is responsible for various institutions as schools, training programs, senior facilities, welfare services, cemeteries, synagogues, libraries and other associations (Jewish Community of Berlin, sd.). However, because of the historical significance of several tombstones, some elements of the Weissensee cemetery fall under the supervision of the Landesdenkmalamt (LDA), the Berlin Monument Authority. This supervision is led by Gesine Sturm, who is responsible for the historical gardens in Berlin. In 2009 and 2006, the LDA in cooperation with the Jewish Community of Berlin, managed to arrange significant state funding in favor of restoration works for the cemetery (Jewish Community of Berlin, 2011).

After the Cold War reached its end in 1989, one of the first tombstones to be restored was that of Albert Mendel in 1990. The German president hosted two benefit concerts to collect the money for the restoration work. Image 7 shows a comparison of the condition of the tombstone before and after the restoration was carried out. The left part of image 7 shows the condition of the tombstone during the phase of neglect under the division of Berlin. The original date of when the picture was taken is unknown, but the missing letters that were later readjusted in the right part of the image point out that it was at least taken before the tomb was restored. Vaguely, in the left part of the image in the front center of the triangle-like shape of the construction the Star of David can be distinguished, that was also reestablished in 1990

Image 7. Albert Mendel tombstone, pre- and post-restoration. Source (l): Gottschalk, photo credits (r): author

5.3 Contemporary efforts In the course of the years leading up to 2006 and 2009, when more continuous state funds were granted, occasionally tombstones were restored from initiatives from the Berlin city council, the state government or other state driven institutions (Jewish Community of Berlin, 2011). Based upon the argument of either the faith of irreversible damage to historical monuments or the historical significance of certain tombs, restoration work was performed. However, in 2006 and 2009 government supported financial aid that helped to improve the more general appearance of the cemetery (Sturm, 2018). An example of one of these enhancements is the replacement of old and rusty plot field signs. In order to maintain the historical feel of the cemetery, these signs were replicated to resemble the original design, as shown in image 8. The cropped elements in the image, consisting of three separate pictures, display the original plot sign ‘F4’ attached to a pole, the original plot sign ‘J4’ attached to a tree and the replicated plot sign ‘J4’ attached to a pole. The most significant difference in the design includes the change to a white background instead of the original dark toned background, which was presumably altered for better visibility.

Image 8. Plot signs ‘F4’, ‘J4’, ‘J4’. Photo credits: author

Besides renewing the plot signs, the accessibility of the cemetery was a main priority. Although it would not be possible to grant accessibility to all graves, due to overgrowing, the main pathways have been cleared. Currently, approximately 14 staff members work for or at the Weissensee cemetery. How many of these staff members are gardeners is unknown to the front-office staff member and thus remains unanswered. Besides daily maintenance work by staff members, the German military annually orders a group of ten of their men to perform maintenance work for two weeks in November. Image 9 displays these men gathering leaves in front of the hill at the site of the destroyed New Hall of Mourning (see image 3, in front of plot field ‘UI’ and ‘UII’).

Image 9. German Military during their annual maintenance command. Photo credits: author

Besides state driven funds, private initiatives have numerously resulted in the restoration of tombs. These private initiatives can come from younger relatives in search for their ancestors at the cemetery, with the aid of the archives that contains the documentation of all the over 115.000 graves, that is practically complete. These initiatives can also come from random people that have affinity to a specific tomb and subsequently gather funds for its restoration work, as Sturm (2018) informs. Many of the larger-sized tombstones are the graves of prominent figures of the Jewish Community and are still known for their contribution to the community to this day. Dr. Hermann Simon, the former chairman of the Centrum Judaicum, is one of the actors together with Gesine Sturm in taking initiative in gathering private parties to donate for prominent tombstones to be restored. An example of a restored grave thanks to the efforts of dr. Simon, is the restoration of the Kempinski tombstone (see image 10). Kempinski was the founder of a hotel-chain enterprise that still exists to this day. Therefore, the current board of the hotel-chain was approached by dr. Simon, to gain the funds for the restoration of the tombstone. This process, where private actors are approached, is an initiative that is gaining interest but has not been carried out systematically yet (Sturm, 2018).

Image 10. Kempinski tombstone. Photo credits: Z Thomas

Sturm (2018) emphasizes how the restoration of tombstones is done with the aim to bring the construction back to its original state, where only new material is added if that is crucial for the structure to hold. Also, if it is perceived that ivy has overgrown tombstones to an extend that it is essential to hold the structure, it will not be removed. She explains, how the traces of times are embraced in the restoration process, instead of aiming to realize a brand new version of the original structure. Image 11 shows the restored Strauss-Massenbach family plot, where the second and the last headstone from the left are missing elements from the plaques. The ironwork that holds the plaques, presumably had a headstone inserted in the third frame as well but is no longer present in the structure, for unknown reasons.

Image 11. The Strauss-Massenbach family plot. Photo credits: author 5.4 Critiques Although it seems like many efforts are put in to make the Weissensee cemetery revive after the great neglect the site endured during the Cold War, this does not mean the cemetery is saved from further decay. Sturm (2018) emphasizes how funds for restoration purposes are mostly a one-time act, and thus is not taking long term maintenance aspects of these restored tombs in consideration. The state funds that were granted in 2006 and 2009, she says, have now also been exhausted after some seven years. Being granted new state funds, can take years because the specific financial resources purposed to support the status of maintenance and restoration of the cemetery, have been used up. This is considered a problem, because many tombstones have been restored over the course of the last twenty years and are in need of constant care to maintain the condition they were in right after being restored. Image 12 shows the well-known Netter tomb, that was restored to its original colors after thorough research (Jewish Community of Berlin, 2011). The image is a cropped ensemble with the post-restoration condition of the framework top left. The top right picture shows the current condition of the construction, after completing its restoration in 2002. However, to support the circumstances Gesine (2018) formulates in her argument, the three pictures on the bottom row portray how the paint is gradually making place for rusty patches.

Image 12. Pre- and post-restoration Netter tomb. Source (l): Wauer, photo credits (other): author

Alongside with the state funds that seem to be exhausted for an undetermined period of time, Sturm (2018) is not hesitant to express her opinion on the lack of effort from the Jewish Community of Berlin by stating: ‘’Let's say they don't have the money, but also they don't want to give very much money for the cemeteries.’’

By this, Sturm (2018) emphasizes how the Jewish Community of Berlin tends put more effort in their ‘living’ institutions such as schools and synagogues. She builds further upon this by adding a historical argument to her observation, stating how the Jewish Community failed to care about the Weissensee cemetery since the end of World War II and even more throughout the Cold War when the separation of Berlin and the Jewish Community was evident. 5.5 Overview and findings The data that is presented, explains how the preservation and the maintenance of the cemetery was revitalized after the Cold War. Severely damaged tombstones that contain significant historical value, were restored through state funds and private donations. Additionally, more continuous financial support for the maintenance and preservation of the cemetery was obtained in 2006 and 2011. With these funds, the accessibility and overall presentation of the cemetery was enhanced. However, the influx of these state funds have now reached its end and stresses the financial resources of the cemetery today. As a countermovement, private actors increasingly put effort in preserving the historical value of the cemetery. Although, this has not been systematically applied through the LDA or the Jewish Community of Berlin. Overall, a less fortunate observation is how funds resulting in restoration work are characterized as limited, because long term maintenance of the restoration work is hardly taken into consideration. To add to this, the Jewish Community of Berlin seems to put little effort in providing the Weissensee cemetery, which is their institution, with financial support.

In selecting tombstones in need for restoration, historical significance of concerning tombstones play an evident role. The Weissensee Cemetery issued a booklet, composed by the Jewish Community of Berlin (2011) containing a route through the cemetery. This route goes along the tombs of significant

25 contributors to the Jewish Community such as scientist, political figures, poets, benefactors and so on, of which many have undergone restoration work. The booklet, alongside the selection process of which tombs underwent restoration work, can be related to the ‘lieux de mémoire’ theory by Nora (1989). Through this argument, it is explained how the Jewish Community of Berlin contributes to the creation of the collective memory of the cemetery, by guiding its visitors to selected gravesites that are of value to either the Jewish legacy or history. Private actors involved in gathering funds for specific tombs that meet with their interests, add to this process. However, these private actors also portray an example of a relation between community and place where place attachment and place identity is in order (Manzo & Perkins, 2006). In this, these private actors delivering efforts in enhancing the presentation of the cemetery, are essential for the cemetery to proceed its existence.

Also the contemporary organizational structure of the Weissensee cemetery, increasingly supports the concept of secularization as privatizing religion (Casanova, 2006). However, a balance in priority management by the Jewish Community of Berlin is contested by Sturm (2018), claiming their interest and support tends to be primarily focused on their living institutions.

6. Academic efforts for the reputation of the Weissensee cemetery

The data presented and analyzed in this chapter, answers the third sub-question:

How is the Weissensee cemetery represented in literature that aims to contribute to the reputation of the Weissensee cemetery?

In this segment of the research the main focus lies upon the efforts of various actors in the process where the Weissensee cemetery was ought to be a rightful candidate for the German tentative list as well as the UNESCO World Heritage list. The reputation of the cemetery is linked to these efforts, since it was perceived that the cemetery should gain UNESCO status. 6.1 UNESCO World Heritage In literature, the Weissensee Jewish cemetery is often referred to as ‘Wilhelminian Necropolis’, which translates as city of the death (Jacobs, 2008). The cemetery earned this name thanks to the more than 115,000 people that are densely buried on an area of 42 hectares. Thanks to the limited damage the cemetery suffered throughout World War II and the history that is preserved on the site, the aim to include the cemetery on the UNESCO World Heritage list was put into action (Haspel et al., 2013). In order to be presented as a candidate for the UNESCO World Heritage list, the cemetery first had to be admitted to the German tentative list (Sturm, 2018). The process where a tentative list is first composed and then presented to the UNESCO World Heritage list board, applies for all participating nations in their quest to gain UNESCO status. The document that argues for the Weissensee cemetery to be an addition to the UNESCO World Heritage list, was submitted by the Berlin Senate Department for Urban Development and the Environment in cooperation with the Berlin Senate Chancellery (Rütenik et al., 2013). In order for the Weissensee cemetery to be presented to UNESCO in Paris, all the responsible actors of the German board for the tentative list had to agree on the cemetery being a rightful addition.

The UNESCO World Heritage list as we know today, has been in in action since 1977 and was sparked by the league of nations and their growing concerns on the preservation of cultural and natural heritage worldwide (Frey & Steiner, 2011). Currently, the list consists of 1092 properties that are divided in either cultural sites, natural sites or mixed sites. Germany contributes to the UNESCO World Heritage list with 40 properties divided in 37 cultural sites, 3 natural sites and zero mixed sites (UNESCO, sd.). 6.2 Inventory project For the admission to the German tentative list in the run for candidateship on the UNESCO World Heritage list, it was decided to perform a comprehensive project assessing the complete inventory of all the tombs, and thus all the people buried at the cemetery (Haspel et al., 2013). The project, that was executed between 2010 and 2012, entailed a cooperation with the Department of History of Architecture and Urban Design of the Berlin Institute of Technology, The Berlin State Office for the Preservation of Historic Monuments and the Centrum Judaicum. For the purpose of the project, a digital database program was developed to systematically insert 50 data entries of each grave. Thanks to the written archives including all kinds of information on the buried people at the cemetery, thoroughly maintained by the administration of the Cemetery throughout its existence, the corresponding graves could be located in the burial fields. This process enabled the nature of the data being inserted into the database, containing characteristics of the gravestones such as the used materials, the engravings, its current state and information about the people buried at the specific location. So besides gaining an overview in knowledge about the people buried at the cemetery and

27 the trends in tomb design through the course of time, the projects also gained a clear insight in the current state of the cemetery. Image 12 presents the ground plan of the Weissensee cemetery in terms of stability mapping. The yellow marks represent gravestones that are secure in medium terms, orange marks represent gravestones secure in the short term, red marks represent endangered gravestones and purple marks represent gravestones that are already fallen (see enlarged stability map in appendix 4).

Image 13 Stability map Weissensee ground plan (2012) Source: Berlin Landesdenkmalamt

The project as a whole provides a clear overview on the status of the cemetery in 2013 and tended to secure a position on the tentative list by emphasizing, besides its evident cultural significance, the completeness of gathered data. As an example, the stability mapping presented, adds to a belief of necessity for preservation measures. Beforementioned, it was outlined how UNESCO acts from the perspective of preventing world heritage to be threatened in their existence. In the final recommendations of the research, it is outlined how the outcomes of the research can be used to gain a more accurate understanding of the range of gravestones in need for restoration work (Rütenik et al., 2013).

As for the developed database in the comprehensive research, where all the buried people and graves have been assessed, Sturm (2018) addresses how this rather costly research now represents a missed opportunity. Tobias Rütenik, one of the coordinators of the project, held a speech in 2013 during the international meeting of experts on April 17, 18 and 19. In his presentation, he emphasizes how the project is a valuable piece of documentation and a useful tool for future research (Rütenik, 2013). However, Sturm (2018) addresses how the database system was brought to completion, but has never been developed into a fully working computer system that was put in use by the cemetery to update any alterations to the data. Since the data was assessed and gathered in 2010, 2011 and 2012, some of the information might now be outdated. Although the project, a rather massive operation, is executed successfully, a direct gain for the Weissensee cemetery was not achieved. Interestingly, this undesired outcome was discussed in one of the last segments of the research under ‘Sustainability and Potential of the Inventory Project’ as the following was stated:

‘’However, there will soon be a need for appropriate measures to ensure that the institutions involved are able to use and update this wealth of material without delay. Otherwise there is a risk that, having amassed all this detailed data, it will quickly fall out of date and thus lose value. To avoid creating a “data graveyard“ of digitally documented survey records, it is necessary to install the inventory, of which each partner institution currently has a locally saved, file-based database, on a server that all users can access. It would also be important here to create individual web interfaces so that, in future, operators will need no specialist knowledge or software to be able to make additional entries, to evaluate the wealth of data or to generate diagrams and/or maps themselves.’’ (Rütenik et al., 2013)

The quote describes the current status of the database, although the purpose was to prevent these circumstances. Sturm (2018) connects a number of arguments as to why the research failed to remain a durable tool. The limitations for the tool to be transformed into a working program can be ascribed to the lack of people that are able to work with the system, the lack of financial resources to cover the transformation costs of €70,000.- and the lack of benevolence from the Jewish Community of Berlin. The Jewish Community of Berlin expressed their resistance to an internet accessible computer database, because of privacy reasons that in such circumstances might be violated. 6.3 New strategies Unfortunately, the Weissensee cemetery was not granted candidateship to the German tentative list for the UNESCO World Heritage list in 2014. The main argument by the board of the German tentative list explains the lack of a comparative component in the document that was submitted (Sturm, 2018). The comparative component that was considered to be essential, had to substantiate how the Weissensee Jewish cemetery was the sole rightful candidate, as opposed to other Jewish cemeteries in Europe. The board proclaimed, a certain level of uniqueness eliminating other Jewish cemeteries was not obtained. Sturm (2018) criticizes the board’s decision by emphasizing how dispersion of UNESCO World Heritage properties through Germany might have played a role. She claims, they might have been reluctant to accept the Weissensee cemetery, because Berlin already holds three UNESCO World Heritage properties. Recently, the Naumburg Cathedral was added as a new UNESCO property, on which Sturm (2018) makes the following remark:

‘’We have so many churches already on the list. Not only in Germany, but all over the world. It's in Germany, but it's in the eastern part of Germany. I think that's interesting of them. So this is my private view to things. But, the decision of Weissensee you just cannot understand if you are inside the theme, the topic.’’

Sturm (2018) explains how the decision of denying the Weissensee its entry to the German tentative list based on the lack of a comparative examination, provided a new insight in changing the strategies for a future submission. The new strategy aims to submit the Weissensee cemetery alongside comparable Jewish cemeteries in Central- and Eastern Europe. In 2018 a booklet was composed, containing a comparative research on these participating cemeteries, as a preparation in suggesting a serial nomination for UNESCO World Heritage. The aim is to just include the Lodge Jewish cemetery in Poland and the Jewish Cemetery of Budapest in this series, as adding all the comparative cemeteries in the booklet will be a too complex process to achieve the set goal. 6.4 Overview and findings This segment of the conducted research, emphasizes on the academic efforts in contributing to the reputation of the Weissensee cemetery. The core purpose of these efforts, revolve around the desire to gain UNESCO status for the cemetery. As part of the preparing the submission document for the German tentative list, a comprehensive survey of all the graves was executed. This research developed a database with an overview of information per grave and through this, the condition of

29 the tombstones was accurately mapped. Eventually, the document was never developed into a working database, due to financial and privacy reasons. Currently, the research is considered a missed opportunity. Also, the submission to the German tentative list was denied by its board, and with that the chance of gaining UNESCO status was lost. As for 2018, the actors involved in the UNESCO process, shifted the strategy in issuing a comparative study of Jewish cemeteries in Europe, paving the way for a serial nomination to the UNESCO World Heritage List.

The academic efforts that contributed to the reputation of the Weissensee cemetery as UNESCO- worthy is characterized by a variety in cooperating institutions. Therefore, the sense between community and place in line with the Weissensee cemetery is through these events considered a coordinated approach. Although these institutions are professional organizations, a certain extend of place attachment by individuals putting their efforts in the process, is a crucial aspect (Manzo & Perkins, 2006). However, place identity in this context is not a necessity, as the process transcends religion and belief. The institutions involved agree to the Weissensee cemetery as a ‘lieux de mémoire’, gaining a prominent status in the collective memory of not only Berlin, but also worldwide (Nora, 1989).

7. Conclusions

7.1 Answer to the main research question The main research question of this thesis reads as following:

Which historical aspects and associations are crucial in preserving, maintaining and representing the geographical functions of the Weissensee cemetery from World War II onwards?

In order to answer the general question, three separate subjects have been discussed that jointly represent the overall purpose of the research. Firstly, the historical aspects that significantly affected the structure and condition are characterized by events before, during and after World War II. In this, the trend of circumstances moves from great prosperity up until the war, towards a phase of negligence during the war, continuing throughout the Cold War. During these events, the Weissensee cemetery experienced significant physical changes. Additionally, the Jewish Community involved in the state of maintenance of the cemetery experienced significant societal changes. Subsequently, these changes negatively affected the cemetery resulting the cemetery being in great despair by the end of the Cold War. The Berlin wall coming down in 1989, simultaneously represented a new phase of revival for the cemetery, where new efforts were put in to enhance the condition of the site. From then on the level of funds rose, enabling tombstones to be restored and overall accessibility to be maintained. As for today, multiple institutions cooperate in the aim to gain UNESCO World Heritage status for the cemetery.

Although recent events imply a current trend of prosperity and an accurate state of maintenance and preservation, this is not the case. Measures taken to enhance the maintenance and generate restoration work to be executed, are characterized by short term efforts. The majority of these efforts contain a lack of sustainable points of action benefitting the cemetery in the long run. 7.2 The relations between community and place The Weissensee Jewish cemetery in Berlin is a historical site that throughout its existence has been intertwined with its Jewish community. The conceptual model (see figure 1) is of accuracy for the relations between community and place in the context of the Weissensee cemetery. The visualization presents how the Weissensee cemetery serves as a common ground and contains historical value for the community that it generates. Vice versa, the community serving the cemetery is essential for the status of maintenance and preservation, but also for the reputation of the cemetery. To add to this concept, the composition of the active community serving the Weissensee cemetery is variable depending on the aim of the effort. Within this concept, the community-component is based upon the presence of at least a level of place attachment. In case religion is the main motive for serving the cemetery, a level of place identity is distinguished. Vice versa, the Weissensee is a ‘lieux de mémoire’ to this community, a physical legacy as part of the collective memory of this group. Subsequently, the community contributes to the reputation of the cemetery by increasingly introducing the site as part of the collective memory of Berlin and the world. 7.3 Discussion As the thesis focuses on the relation between community and place, the role of Jewish Community of Berlin in the status of maintenance of the cemetery is of great importance. The results of the study show however, that this community seems to be falling short in accordingly preserving the site. Irrefutably, the great losses the Jewish community had to endure during the Nazi oppression is one of the primary causes for this observation. Yet, that aspect does not certify as to why the Jewish Community of Berlin withholds from providing more substantial financial resources to benefit the

31 cemetery. From a different perspective, it can be considered a contradiction to Jewish burial traditions, that state how a Jewish grave is granted its existence through eternity. It would be more comprehensible that if a grave is considered to continuously exist, a certain level of preservation and maintenance is desired. In order to fully support this argument, the perspective on these findings from the Jewish Community of Berlin is essential to gain the complete story. Since the Jewish Community of Berlin was unwilling to cooperate in the research, the counterarguments to this observation remains to be unknown. 7.4 Recommendation Although this thesis was not constructed from a corporate perspective, the gathered knowledge can considered to be sufficient in formulating a brief recommendation. It would be favorable to explore the opportunities for a program that enables private actors to adopt a grave. Since the cemetery is characterized by its great variety of tombstones, a broad range in adoptive costs can be applied. Through this, larger funds and smaller initiatives can contribute to many well-known and forgotten graves deserving care. In case this is realized as an official program, national and international interested actors are enabled to put their interests into action.

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Appendix 1. Log workweek Berlin

Date Occupation Specifications 12/11/2018 • Orientation visit to • No cooperation – Weissensee privacy reasons • Phone contacting JCB • No cooperation – lack of English speaking employees • Visit to Jewish • No accurate Museum information found • Researching archives • Useful literature found Jewish Museum 13/11/2018 • Interview Gesine Sturm • Researching archives Jewish Museum • Renewing e-mail contact with Hermann Simon 14/11/2018 • Focused visit to • Taking photos of Weissensee German Military and specific tombstones

• Visit to New Synagogue • Meeting with secretary • Leaving behind contact of Centrum Judaicum information • Phone contact with • Not enabled to the Archive schedule appointment department of Centrum Judaicum • Researching archives Jewish Museum 15/11/2018 • Focused visit to • Taking photos of Weissensee tombstones • Researching archives Jewish Museum • Making photocopies 16/11/2018 • Final research archives Jewish Museum

Appendix 2. Transcript interview Gesine Sturm (LDA)

Oké, yes.

So the cemetery belongs to the Jewish community and is still running, it's an open one. So maybe that is very much different from other historic Jewish cemeteries which are closed now. We have the Jewish community in Oranienburgerstraße and the cemetery at Weissensee, so it's quite a distance between. On the cemetery there are working some people who know the archive. There is a very important archive there about all people who are buried on the cemetery. It's the administration of that archive, they help people coming to the cemetery looking, searching, for their family, ancestors and so on. There is one lady, mrs. Borgmann, maybe you have heard the name already. She lives there, in a separate house on the cemetery. She know everything. She worked for the Jewish administration long years. She is retired now, but still she is in charge of some things there. The Jewish community in Oranienburgerstraße, they have to care about all things about the Jewish community. It’s not only the historic cemeteries, but I think they have their priority on schools and synagogues and all the other buildings they have to care for, and of course the people. So, they don't have money for their cemeteries, and that's the problem. Let's say they don't have the money, but also they don't want to give very much money for the cemeteries.

Why is that?

Well, they say they cannot afford, they don't have. Therefore, we, or let’s say for the last, actually it's since the wall came down. Because it's in the Eastern part of Berlin, so immediately after we had the reunification of the city parts, the monument authority of Berlin, where I work in, looked after this cemeteries. You cannot imagine, I mean, they didn't care for years. After the war, nobody cared about the cemeteries. So many decades, it just was growing there. You couldn't see the gravestones and so on. In the late DDR time, they tried to have some work, with students, with pupils, to have a little clean up just for the main pathways and so on. When we came there, it was just, you wouldn't think that you can make something there. They began to restore the buildings and after that, little restoration works on some graves and so on. But since 1996 we, or the cemetery, profits from huge money from the Berlin administration and the German government.

Like fundings.

Like fundings, yes. They have special funds for restoration of monuments or protected areas. Buildings, and so on. For many many years, since 2013, we had several funds for this cemetery. Different kind of restoration works. So, in the first campaign, with a lot of money, the bigger family graves were restored. In the second campaign, with not so much money, we tried to restore many of the wall graves along the main pathways. We finished this with the restoration of the wall around the cemetery. For Jewish cemeteries, it is significant to have a wall. The last years, we had about three campaigns to restore the wall, about two kilometers long around it. It’s made of bricks and some, one part, was made of concrete in 1983. Then, they had to change the brick wall in to this concrete thing. So, at the moment we finished that because we cannot have more funds because the regulations say that you can give money for seven years. Maybe we wait some time, then ask again for the next seven years. I don't know, maybe. We have to talk to people again, or whatever. The little petty is that the Jewish community itself is not asking anyone. So because they are in trouble to maintain the restored graves. So they didn't give money to the restoration campaigns, but their part was always to clean up the graves before restoration, take away schraps and so on. But after restoration, to look after the grave and to plant a little ivy or... I don't know the name. When you have the grave, you have this little ivy, this little hill made of ivy to mark that somebody is buried there. Sort of a Christian tradition actually. That is their part. They say they don't have the staff to

36 maintain all the restored graves and therefore they don't want to have the others restored. What I think is silly because, I mean it’s true, they don't have enough people. But on the other side, they have to maintain. The graves belong to them and they get so much money. I think they have to organize to maintain the graves. I don't know how many gardeners they have at the moment, but they get many people from programs who bring people into work.

Oké, like people have a distance from the labor market or something? People that are having trouble to find jobs?

Yes. Those people are just for a period of time. The Jewish community doesn't have to pay for them, they came from the district administration of [inaudible].

Those people are subsidized?

I think so, yes. Many of those people, they're changing all the time. But they are only allowed to take away the leaves to make the pathway clean, to bring the leaves falling down from all the trees away. That is quite a help, ok, but it's not the same what should be done there. So, they are also in trouble with all the trees there. Imagine, the cemetery was lay out in 1880 with a structure of pathways, bigger and smaller ones, and grave fields in a certain way and with planted allees [tree species]. No other trees, only the allies. So, you can think about a little town, let’s say, that was the idea. So maybe a city for the dead, let’s say. Nowadays, because there was no maintenance after 1933 and then a total cut after 1945 of course. All schrubs, trees, just are still just growing. Some of them are dying, they just fell over. We have some grave fields, they look like a jungle. And others which are really, pretty maintained. So we have very broad range of maintenance work you can see there, just with the green, not with the graves. So, I don't know who to ask for the cemetery in the Jewish Community. Try to, but, I don't know what they will tell you or can tell you. The lady on the cemetery, mrs. Borgmann, she has her own opinion on things.

How would you describe her opinion?

She loves the plants, as well as the animals, as well as the graves. But, she knows that nobody can maintain in the future. She is not in charge to bring people to the cemetery. Sometimes we have different opinions how to manage all the things. I look at the cemetery as a, from the monument authority. For me, it's a garden monument and we try to keep the cemetery not as it is, but to maybe bring it back in a shape not to what it used to be, that would be around 40 million or something. It's not my aim to make the cemetery look like in, let’s say, 1925. But we want to show all the periods of time, but we have to keep the whole cemetery at least like it is now. Before the family graves break down, we try to restore. So, nobody will afford the costs for everything that could be done. For us then it's different to find out what should be done immediately, what should be done later, what is not necessary.

How do you prioritize that? How do you decide, this has to be done now, what are the criteria?

We don't have a master plan yet. Maybe sometimes it has to be worked out. But, it was so obvious what should be done, so we just did it. As I told you, when the work began, they first restored small signs. You can see them here. It's just for the orientation of the cemetery; where are the fields, which numbers have the grave fields, and so on. Like this, this was the first sign they restored. This is new, but they had many old ones so they exactly know how it was. Then, they restored the bigger ones along the main roads in the city, the really huge prominent family graves. Then afterwards as I said the wall graves. I can show you here some photos in this book. This is an example for the second campaign, with less money. Just to rebuild iron work. This is almost the condition we start with, the good thing is that you mostly find everything, it is just broken down but not taken away. So you

37 rebuild it. Like this one, this is also a wall grave, a family grave located at the wall of the cemetery. So it's a little broken down and some trees in it, and so on. We take away all the green things, then we slowly take away the whole structure, to look behind, to rebuild the brick walls and then reset the parts, these are made of marble. This is Weissensee, the entrance building, so that is all restored. This as fine example for the allees. There are some graves here [inaudible]. This is the very nice one.

Ah, this is my favorite!

The colored one. That took a few years to be restored.

But they we are able to find out the colors they used originally, right?

Yes. What questions maybe I can answer.

Let me see, I think you already answered many of them. I was wondering, are there still contracts with family that have like a maintenance contract?

They have. Very few families take care about the graves and still coming ancestors from oversees to ask for the graves. Some of them pay for the maintenance. I think they give the money to the cemetery administration and they organize maybe a gardener or something. Very rare is that people give money although they are no ancestors, like a donation or something. We have some projects where they just liked the gravestone and said: oke, I give you the money.

So they adopted a gravestone?

Yes, maybe. But it's only for one time, it's not for a longer maintenance period. Just to restore the stone. At the moment, just last week, I was outside and met a guy, a doctor actually, and he adopted a grave where a doctor is buried. He is collecting the money now, from his colleagues, doctors as well. They asked me for more money. Because we can give money to restoration work. It's then a mixture of donations and our money, to restore this grave of the family Killschtein, is the name. The guy will organize a little colloquium, a little meeting, when the work will be finished, to bring the idea to other people. We will have little speeches then, and he will try to get his colleagues to donate money for more restoration work.

For other graves?

For other graves. So that is the idea, to give a good example, talk about it, and find others. So that's the initiative of one man at the moment. They can be very lucky. But that's not the rule, it depends on very few people thinking like this. We visited the grave of Berthold Kempinski, maybe you know Kempinski, it's a hotel group. Berthold Kempinski founded actually this... He started with a shop for wine, wine tasting and a restaurant with wine. Immediately it grew up. He had a restaurant and then hotel, now it's Kempinski group running all over the world. So, for the cemetery we have a group of people who cares about the cemetery in their free time.

Volunteers?

No not volunteers. What is it... They founded it for the profit of the cemetery. Some people come together, they all want to help the cemetery so they founded this.

I will translate it.

So, they contacted the Kempinski group. They raised the money, asked me to give the rest. So, we had this mixture of money and they could pay for the restoration work. Then we met there with the people of the Kempinski group, with people of this fareighn, with me, so everybody was happy and so. But, so small steps. We have more than 115.000 graves on about 40 hectare, I don't know how many acres that are. It's just huge. For all, it's a lifetime project, let's say. But I think the Jewish community should establish sort of a fund or something, with money only for maintenance.

Not restoration, only maintenance?

Yes I think maintenance and restoration. Because, let's say the one you liked best, the colored one, it's restored now for let’s say ten years. When you look in detail, you will see areas on the leaves of flowers, where you have to paint now. You have to work, even on the restored graves continually. They just don't do. They say they don't have the money, but I think they should try to get the money then. We are not responsible for the Jewish community. In parts, maybe we are responsible for the restoration works. We work together with them very good. But, I think they should have more own initiative to make the things running. For Borgmann as I told you, she is in contact with a few people, maybe they will give money. But it's only for then one grave, and so on.

So it's all for short term and very small parts?

Yes. At the moment, time with big restoration campaigns, the time is over at the moment.

I was reading that they wanted to try to get the cemetery on the world heritage UNESCO, did it work?

No. In, in think 2005, they decided that maybe this is world heritage. From then on, we were involved in the process to make this world heritage. The senate of Berlin in, I think 2006. I don't know the correct words, but the senate of Berlin asked the monument heritage authority and the Jewish community to bring the cemetery on the world heritage list. It's an official order to work on this project. We needed a lot of money then. So the government of Berlin decided: Yes, we want it. On the other side, that meant: Yes, we give you money for this. That was the official start, I think in 2006. Then we prepared everything, we invited people to look at... [inaudible] You can take this if you like. Then, two years later we have an international meeting of experts on the same topic. This year, we had a little colloquium, same topic. We thought we are well prepared. Then in Germany, you have to bring the cemetery or any other heritage site, first on the tentative list of the country. So, it has to come on the German tentative list. In Poland or Hungary, they have to bring their sites on the Polish tentative lists. The countries itself first have to decide if they want this site on the tentative list or not. If it’s on the tentative list, then the next step, it goes then to the UNESCO in Paris. First, you have to check if all responsible people in Germany agree with this. In 2014, the German responsible group, it's the ministers of culture affairs, decided not to take the Weissensee cemetery on the tentative list now. Because, they missed an international, what is it, to look at other Jewish cemeteries. What is it, vergleich,

Compare?

Yes, they missed the international comparison. They asked, what other Jewish cemeteries we have in the world and yes we have some in Poland and Hungary and in Russia, Ukraine. So, why should it be Weissensee then? Our answer was not good enough, or not enough, or whatever. So they didn't put it on the tentative list. From then on we worked on this international comparative study. This year, so four years later, we presented a really big book. This one, about metropolitan Jewish cemeteries in central and eastern Europe of the nineteenth and twentieth century. So professor Rudolph Klein, he is an expert on synagogues and cemeteries, he lives in Budapest. He wrote the script and did all of

39 the photography inside this really heavy book. It came out beautiful. That is this one, with twenty other cemeteries. We thought, that this twenty others are comparative to Weissensee, could be compared to Weissensee.

Are compared? I know what you mean.

[laughing]

This is the row of honor in Weissensee. [inaudible] So yes, at the moment we had this meeting this year and our strategy now is not to bring Weissensee on its own on the list, but together with others. So that's the possibility of a serial, international serial, nomination. But then you have the problem to bring all of the other countries together.

So all of the cemeteries that are in this book as well?

In this book are cemeteries are cemeteries that we think can be compared to Weissensee. But, a series, maybe you should be started with one or three cemeteries. Otherwise, it is very much too complicated. We think, or the essence maybe if you read the book in this direction, the essence I think should be Weissensee with a cemetery in Poland, I think Lodge, and a cemetery in Budapest. They have two in Budapest, one of them. If other people read this book, maybe they come to another decision at the end. This book is a little bit open, it suggests a little series. Maybe, people read the book in another way and come to another decision. At the moment, I think Poland will go for its own. At the moment we don't work together. They will try their own, I think. So, at the moment the world heritage process for us has stopped a little bit. But you never know. It's not over, but we don't know what is going on at the moment. What is a shame, because we think it has really a high heritage potential because the Weissensee cemetery has not changed. It is still there since 1880. Just a very few demolitions from war activities, really very small. It is just still there as an authentic piece. Therefore, all restoration work is to make it not as a new one, as I said, just to show all. Schporen der teit... to show.

How it was at the time?

Yes, and to show what had happened in the meantime. If something is left, we won't reconstruct it. We leave... what is it. You can see left spaces, you can see gaps.

So you won't add new material?

Only if it's really necessary for the structure. So reconstruction is not the thing, it's to keep it like it is, to help the things stay there. To bring a site on the list, is also a political decision. So maybe we just were not lucky at that time, to bring in on the list.

How do you think politics prevented the cemetery from ending up on the [tentative] list?

It's not about the cemetery, but I think it's about Berlin. Berlin has already tree world heritage sites. I think, they try to spread the heritage sites all over Germany, all over Europe and all over the world in a better way. So at the moment, the main heritage sites are Europe, Western Europe, Italy, France, Germany. So, they decided, well, to bring world heritage sites to areas that don't have so many at the moment. This year, Germany got a new one Naunburgerdum.

Did that surprise you?

Yes. Yes, because it's a church. We have so many churches already on the list. Not only in Germany, but all over the world. It's in Germany, but it's in the eastern part of Germany. I think that's interesting of them. So this is my private view to things. But, the decision of Weissensee you just cannot understand if you are inside the theme, the topic.

I'm also thinking that the longer it takes to get a certain status, the more graves will be neglected and deteriorate in the time. It is also maybe a fight against time, right?

Yes, but we started the restoration work without thinking of world heritage. We will help the Jewish community without world heritage as well. But the Jewish community, I think they thought: if we are world heritage, we get a lot of money. That is absolutely not the thing. It's open. Ask in ten years again, maybe we know better then. I don't know.

Let's see if I have more questions. Yes, outside of the cemetery being an actual burial ground for the deceased, what do you think is the most intrinsic value that the cemetery has on the society? On historical perspective or cultural perspective? What do you think is the value of the cemetery?

Please ask them [laughing]. I have an idea, but... Please ask them. It depends who is the leader of the Jewish community. Today, it's mister Joffer. He is the chairman of the Jewish community. It depends very much on his opinion how to rule with the historic cemeteries. Maybe his priority are living people. That's ok.

So that might be the case?

Yes, I can only say it in a diplomatic way. Please ask them, maybe you find out something.

I will ask them yes.

They will be very proud of the cemetery, I think so. They just have no idea to run into the future, I think.

Would you like to add something? Because all of my questions are answered. Do you want to add something that could be of value to my thesis?

No, not at the moment. I think you should ask the Jewish community, or maybe you should go there and ask somebody there.

I called the Jewish cemetery and then the committee of religious affairs but on the phone immediately told me I should call the Weissensee cemetery. When I called the Weissensee cemetery he said: I'm not speaking English. That's where it stopped. I am planning to just walk in at the Oranienburgerstraße and walk in and try if they can help me, I'll just try. [laughing] Or maybe if they have someone I can be in contact with.

Hmmm... What is the name of this stiftung. In the Oranienburgerstraße is also the foundation New Synagogue. They run the museum there, the archive there. But they are not specialized on this cemetery. They are collecting things, or letters, or correspondence which have to do with the cemetery. Technical University that was our partner in a huge survey. In a period of time of three years, a lot of people, or twenty people, they made a survey of the whole cemetery of all graves. They took photos from the graves, they describe everything. I don't have this anymore so I cannot give it to you.

That's fine.

But you can find this in the internet. It's a documentation of the comprehensive survey. The database, they constructed and put all the data in. It's German - English. Maybe you make a photo of the cover, if you Google this I think you will find it like a PDF.

Maybe I can find this one [comparative book] in the Jewish library.

I don't know if we have send it to them [laughing].

You cannot buy this anywhere?

Yes but it's expensive. It's 69 euros. If you don't find it, tell me, I'll send it to them. We have send it to Jewish institutions and so on, I'm not sure.

I'll try and find it today.

Just mail, so I can send it to them. Again, this survey here. This is part of the formula of the databank. This is one of the wall graves which are restored now. What they found out... So it's about the Hebrew inscriptions. You can see, first when the cemetery was founded many gravestones with Hebrew inscriptions and then less, less, less, and then today only a few and so on. This is how it looked like, so you can see no trees.

Oh yes, an open field.

It's just an open field, yes.

Unimaginable now.

[going through pages] This is quite interesting. Where did the people come from, who are buried in Berlin. It's obvious, they come from the east. Therefore, our comparative study is with cemeteries from central and eastern Europe. And so on. This is interesting as well, it's about the stability mapping. The red ones are in danger.

And the purple ones are already fallen down. The red says danger, the purple already fallen.

Yes, these are fallen. You can build up them, but then you have to decide which one. It's hard to decide because you can work on every grave if you like.

[laughing] All the 115.000 graves.

Here are the problem with the trees, they grow inside the walls, inside the graves. They fallen over and destroyed many... So this has to be done, this has to be maintained. And here we have these grave fields. Now we now for every field, what is going on there. But the shame is, the databank is not connected to other things and is not going on. Unfortunately, we have it but it's now...

It's already from 2011

They finished in 2013.

Isn't there are possibility to maintain the databank as well? That if the situation of a grave changes, you can put it in the databank.

That was the plan, that was the plan. But we can't, we don't have people. We don't have enough people to do it and we don't have people who are able to work with the databank. The plan was, four institutions should be able to have the access to the databank: the university, the Jewish community, the foundation New Synagogue and we. It didn't work, because you have to change the databank into a system where partners can work with parallel. That is about €70.000 to change the databank into a running system. We just haven't done so far. The databank was a really good thing. In this brochure are some results of all the data, we just don't have the power and the people to work with and the Jewish community didn't want to make it internet accessible because of... The said: no, it's data security and it's data of people.

For privacy reasons.

Yes, for security reasons. They didn't want.

But then the access was only for the four institutions right? Not for like me to go into the system.

That was the plan, to have these four institutions. It didn't work because we couldn't change into a running system so far.

There are paper archives of all the people that are buried on the cemetery, it's not in the computer?

This one is the connection between the archive in the cemetery and the [inaudible] situation of every grave, that is the connection. They have this archive here, there must be some photos of the work in the archive. So twenty people were running over the cemetery to every grave, took photos. I think it's not in here. These are all the people working in this project, different disciplines. They had a computer specialist, somebody for Hebrew inscriptions, somebody for restoration, somebody for materials and stones and so on. This here, this is interesting for you because it's the nomination here.

On the tentative list.

The nomination for the tentative list. [mumbling] Yes the very good thing is, the archive is complete. It's unique in the world, they have for all burial site they have a catalog. That was connected with the databank, with every single grave and the condition at the moment in the fields. So, perfect.

Complete right?

Complete.

What a waste that it is not used now.

It's a shame actually, for some reasons it is like this.

A lot of energy that they had put in to this.

Yes and a lot of money. Berlin payed for it, the city or the government or the state of Berlin actually, payed for this.

Interesting. Also, I'm thinking about the doctor with the small initiative. Maybe I can contact him or send him an e-mail?

It's mister Simon, doctor Hermann Simon. The head of the New Synagogue.

He started the small initiative of the...

Kempinski.

I am in contact with him already

The former director of the foundation. He is also the head of the fareighn [lauging]. We talked about the film Wauer. The film, the cover of the film, try to get this as a DVD. Mister Simon helped Wauer to get all the information, to get in contact with the families all over the world.

Because there was like a letter published in a magazine right?

Yes, that was mister Simon.

Good to know, so I think it will be good to talk to him as well.

Yes. This you can have, and think about this. It's a photo documentation of twenty cemeteries. If you look here what is inside, this is Lodge. If you talk about Weissensee, I think it is not necessary to have all the others. You can say, there are many other cemeteries still there, which is like a miracle because the Nazis took away all the Jewish things. Weissensee is the one which is in a very proper condition, let's say and which is nearly complete and which had never been destroyed by systematically Nazi work, let's say. It's only some demolitions by [inaudible]. Also, the Weissensee one is still running. Many are closed now and not maintained at all. But, in Weissensee they have the archives which is unique and it's still running which is also very good because that's the reason why it looks like it is. They get many support from the government of Germany, a lot of money. At the moment, they get help from the bundeswehr, from rervisten from the bundeswehr. From the military.

Yes I was reading that every November they clean up for two weeks.

Genau, that is running at the moment. They are outside at the moment.

At the moment? I was hoping on that.

They bring out trees which have fallen over, they reset little stones with names for people who don't have gravestones. They help the Jewish community as well.

[wrapping up]

Ok, thank you very much. This helped a lot, because I had some trouble finding people that want to speak English with me. I didn't really thought of how the language barrier can be of problem for my thesis so thank you.

Why is it the Weissensee cemetery for you? How did you know from it?

When I'm travelling I always visit cemeteries, it's my hobby. Actually, I noticed that my interests mostly goes out to Jewish cemeteries. I think the tombstones and also like their symbols in it, a lot of symbols with the hands and things like that, I really like the symbols and how they don't necessarily want to portray themselves. On Christian cemeteries you can find a lot of like the faces of people and all, they don't want to portray themselves but maybe their profession.

It's not allowed, but in Weissensee they have a few, which are covered or used to be covered. So the family came, opened the thing. Look at Kempinski, it's like that. We have in St. Petersberg in Russia we have many portrays.

So then maybe they were not like strict Orthodox Jews but more liberal.

That's the point. In Berlin is a very huge Liberal community. Still today, we have Orthodox Jews here but in Berlin traditionally the Liberal Jews are the bigger group.

I also read that they made like areas with urns, with people who are cremated. But then there were some complaints of the Orthodox people so they had to be sure that like the traditional and the more liberal parts of the cemetery were distanced, right?

In Weissensee you have both, you have urns as well. Which is not allowed for the Jewish tradition, but in Berlin everything was possible.

Thank you very much.

You're welcome, I hope you are successful.

Would you like me to e-mail you the end result of my thesis?

Yes let's keep in contact. You are from Amsterdam originally?

I am from the Netherlands yes, I am from a small village and I moved to Amsterdam for my studies. Also, would you like me to use your name in my thesis or would you prefer me to just, when I speak of our interview to refer to the monument authority?

Well it's my personal thing, so you cannot say it is the opinion of the whole authority. It's only from me, so I think you have to point out it's my view. I am responsible for the private gardens and for historic cemeteries if they are protected as a monument. [inaudible, goodbyes]

Appendix 3. Transcript interview dr. Ewald Engler (Leibniz institute for Research on Society and Space)

Interview 2: dr. Ewald Engler, Leibniz Institute for Research on Society and Space

Yes, Engler.

Hello dr. Engler, this is Tosca speaking.

Hello Tosca.

Hello.

So we have today to make our short interview.

Yes.

Thank you for your e-mail, it was very helpful for me. I have one problem Tosca, I have only some twenty minutes I think, or twenty-five to answer your questions because I have a lot of deadlines today. I think we should try to answer the questions you send me in the mail. This could be a first step for you. I have some questions by myself, so I should perhaps answer you in an extra mail or an extra day, some days later. I have to make a check in my documentation of my archives. So I can't answer to all of your questions. I think if we go over them step by step I think it will help you a little bit, I hope so.

Yes. I wanted to ask if I tape the conversation.

Yes, you can record it if you want. But, you will make no transmission or radio of your product, it's only for you? [laughing]

Yes yes, of course.

Tosca, could you shortly tell me what is your project and where are you located and where are you from and why are you making research about the cemetery in Weissensee?

I'm from the University of Amsterdam. I'm studying human geography and urban planning.

In Amsterdam?

Yes in Amsterdam.

You know also Ibert from the ERZ in Erkner?

No I had your information from Andreas Butter.

He is greeting you, he is sitting opposite of me and he laughs.

[laughing]

Oh how nice! Greetings back. I have talked to Gesine Sturm, from the Berlin Monument Authority and I tried to get in contact with some people from the Jewish Community in Berlin but I haven't got a response back. I think because everything had to be in English, I have some trouble with the language barrier.

You have some trouble or the others have?

Yes because I don't speak German and most people only speak German.

And this is difficult in Germany, for some people I think.

Yes I didn't realize but now I know, a bit too late [laughing].

You should perhaps ask somebody who can translate it for you, if you make interviews like this. Otherwise it's difficult to get in contact I think. To my profession Tosca, which is perhaps important for you, I'm not an expert in Jewish history. [inaudible] At the moment we make a project on mobility and traffic planning in Berlin. I make a comparison of East and West Berlin and in East I'm looking on traffic planning, big motorways in the East Berlin and then I got some info about the cemetery in Weissensee. So I'm an historian and we make a project about mobility and traffic planning. This is my background for you, that is another project in comparison to you perhaps. But Tosca as to your questions I will tell you what I know about it. You ask if you don't understand anything or if you think I speak nonsense or when you have a remark. This is best for the first, we could make another appointment and I will try to answer you in a mail perhaps. We could make a second next week or so I have a little bit more time, that would be better I think. Sorry for this but I have a lot of stress, but I would like to give you some feedback.

Yes of course, I'm already happy that you are helping me so...

Yes of course. So first according to wellbeing of the Weissensee cemetery, what about the cemetery as a Lieux de memoire or as a...

Yes I'm using the resources from Pierre Nora as well, but I am mostly looking what associations are involved in like the preservation, and like the restoration of the tombstones. Also, maintenance and representation in like [inaudible].

So it would be interesting for you to be in contact with the Berlin LDA, the authority for the preservation of monuments. They will have a lot of material I think about this.

The LDA right?

Yes yes. I know some persons there I can help you to get in contact with.

That would be perfect yes, thank you.

Because I think they have a lot of material I think about it in more detail than I have and other archives perhaps.

Yes that would be perfect.

Tosca, you are only speaking of railroads plans, but they made plans for a urban expressway. I was a little bit astonished that you speak of railroad plans, do you have some information about the railroad? I only know...

I have a book from the cemetery itself, I think I saw railroad plans somewhere but now that you're saying this I'm doubting myself.

I think it was always a plan for it to be a road. In GDR times it was very much the plan to connect the new residential areas, the new residential areas of East Berlin. Now it was very urgent for GDR traffic planners to have a connection between these. This was the reason that only in the 80's they had to plans to build these roads, these expressways, fraulein expressway through the cemetery area. Which as you know since the nineteenth century or the beginning of the twentieth. So this is an answer to you astonishing question why did took so long, because it was a lot of problems and they had no money to build it because of isolation and the problem with the Weimar republic. In the 30's, the Nazis had other plans and then the war began. In the time after the Second World War there were other [inaudible]. It took a long time. That is not very special for planning. It takes always a long time for infrastructure projects, I think. So it's not so astonishing in my opinion.

Oké, yes that's clear.

I told you what my expertise is, I have seen the documents in the archives of the LDA, the main state archives of the land of Berlin. There I have good material about this concept. I made really good documentation about this, I will work it through next week and then I could give you more information. You could not read it in German, otherwise I could send it to you but we make perhaps, we could speak about it and then it helps you, if you want. [repeating question from e-mail] I have no answer to this, I have to think about it. Then your question: why did it take until the 80's, I think we spoke about it now. Economic reasons and now the necessity to make the connection. I think this is the most important point about this. And then I think you are right about [intervener], I saw his intervention. He was the chief of the West Berlin Jewish Community, you know it. He made a letter, his intervention, his step into the affair, into the problem, was very very important. Because, he had a lot of reputation and together with a media campaign, I don't know if whether you know but the magazine 'Stern', star, Stern is the German word for it.

Ok, Stern, yes.

Yes, this was very important because they had made some records about these plans of the motorway, this was of course a shock for the GDR government. This was bad media about this. In this period they had the idea to get better connections to the Jewish community in GDR, but this was not important for the GDR government worldwide. Because of different aspects, GDR opened a little bit more in the 80's international. They tried to get better relationships with the Jewish community as a whole. So this was a catastrophe for the international reputation of GDR. If you know, after the German history and the third Reich and the Holocaust and so on. It was antifascist and [inaudible] catastrophe if they would have [inaudible] cemetery in Weissensee. This media campaign, or this media record, in other magazines and the intervention of [intervener] were in my opinion the main two points that abandoned the plans in the end. What was the argument in his letter? I will have a look and I will try to summarize it for you. Otherwise it would be possible to find this letter in the archive or in print, I don't know.

Ok, yes.

You have asked a question: was it ever proven that the grounds, that the graves from the Second World War [inaudible]. I think yes, I have found the argument but I have seen no photos. It would be better to ask some people who know more about it, I think it was always mentioned in the documents I think.

Because I saw at the cemetery that there are like new graves on the grounds where the expressway was going to be. So, I'm wondering if there are unauthorized graves. Are they removed or placed somewhere else? Do they know where they can't bury other people because there are graves? I am wondering what they are doing with this possible information.

I think this could be a topic for the LDA and the Jewish Community. The document center in the Oranienburgerstraße, there are a lot of experts there. I can have a look in my documents whether I can find more about it, but I think I don't have more hints about this. We speak about the reasons and of the response of it when they stopped the plans, we spoke about it. It was a political matter of the GDR party. We spoke about the problems, because of Stern and the background of the attempts to get better relations with the Jewish community. That are the main reasons but let me have a look and try to find more arguments. The last questions: where there other attempts to stop the railroad plans? Do you think about movements from bottom-up or what is your idea?

Yes, were there other attempts to prevent the GDR from going through with the plans? Other organizations that jumped in? I don't know.

Yes, I know that the Jewish community, the world Jewish congress is the name I think. I think they made an intervention too. [intervener], the media report and the Jewish world congress, I think they made an intervention too and this was too much pressure for the GDR government. This was very reasonable, to abandon these plans. Tosca, sorry for this hurried answer. Let me have a look in my material. I'll send you a mail back with some more ideas but I make it very short and then I think it's good if we make a new phone... next week or so if that's possible for you.

Yes, would you like to make an appointment now?

Yes otherwise you won't find me. Would it be possible on Thursday or Friday next week, for me would be best on the 6th or the 7th. I'll send you an idea in the mail. Thursday next week, at eleven o'clock?

Thursday next week, the 29th of November?

No, next week.

Oh sorry, so the 6th?

Yes, eleven o'clock perhaps?

Then I have a class.

It's better for you a little bit earlier?

Yes

At 10 or 9.30?

9.30, if that's ok?

9.30 ok! If I'm late I will make up another time [joking]

[laughing]

Ok, I hope it was good for you

It was very helpful and thank you for helping me. So I'll see your e-mail in my inbox, and we'll talk next week.

I make it short, the e-mail, I think it's better if we speak again about it. If you are interested to be in contact with anyone, but it will be better if you have somebody who can take the interview [in German]. If you send some points you want to talk about, they can be prepared. I wish you a good time, until next week.

Thank you, same to you.

Oke, thank you bye.

Bye.

Appendix 4. Stability map ground plan Weissensee cemetery