Astrid Zajdband German Rabbis in British Exile

Astrid Zajdband German Rabbis in British Exile Astrid Zajdband German Rabbis in British Exile From ‘Heimat’ into the Unknown Gedruckt mit freundlicher Unterstützung der Ursula Lachnit-Fixson Stiftung. An electronic version of this book is freely available, thanks to the support of libraries working with Knowledge Unlatched. KU is a collaborative initiative designed to make high quality books Open Access. More information about the initiative can be found at www.knowledgeunlatched.org This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 4.0 License. For details go to http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/. ISBN 978-3-11-046948-6 e-ISBN (PDF) 978-3-11-047171-7 e-ISBN (EPUB) 978-3-11-046972-1 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data A CIP catalog record for this book has been applied for at the Library of Congress. Bibliographic information published by the Deutsche Nationalbibliothek The Deutsche Nationalbibliothek lists this publication in the Deutsche Nationalbibliografie; detailed bibliographic data are available in the Internet at http://dnb.dnb.de. © 2016 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Boston/Berlin Cover Image: West London Synagogue, original interior, ca. 1930s, courtesy of the West London Synagogue. Typesetting: Michael Peschke, Berlin Printing: CPI books GmbH, Leck ♾ Printed on acid free paper Printed in Germany www.degruyter.com My Co-Doctors Jakob, Yoel and Benjamin Table of Contents Preface 1 Figures 4 Tables 5 Graphs 6 Abbreviations 6 Introduction Literature Review, Methodology, Theoretical Framework 9 Literature Review 13 Methodology 22 Theoretical Framework 27 Ethnicity, Identity, Exile, and its Impact on Religion 27 Rabbinic Authority and Pastoral Care under Duress 32 Serving and Preaching until 1938 The Rabbinate in Germany 37 The Modern Rabbinate 40 Outside Pressure and Inner Strength 50 Shifting Rabbinic Duties 58 Concentration Camp 64 Release 75 Moral Dilemma 81 Leaving 91 Inbetween 1938–1939 Exit into the Unknown 101 Anglo-Jewry 104 Rescue Efforts 112 Unsuccessful Rescue Efforts 126 Arriving and Settling 1938–1945 Establishing Normalcy in Britain 137 Support and Maintenance 140 Employment and Assistance 148 Activities, Networks and Commemorative Work 155 Obstacles to settlement 168 Kitchener Camp 168 Internment 174 viii Table of Contents Australia, Canada or Release 184 The War Effort 190 New Beginnings on the Home Front 195 Expanding and Uniting 201 Ending and Beginning 1945–1956 Preserving and Building Anew 215 Post-War Relief in Germany 218 Post-War Britain 227 Jewish Learning 229 Consolidation and Expansion 237 The Refugee Rabbinate 245 Changes in the Pulpit 249 Conclusion Heritage 257 Three Ketarim of Jewish Leadership 266 Communal Reaction to Disaster 268 Implications for Further Research 271 Appendix A German Rabbis – emigrated to Britain 275 Appendix B German Rabbis – perished with their communities 287 Bibliography 297 Archives and Libraries 299 Private Collections 299 Books 300 Articles 306 Periodicals 309 Theses and Unpublished Manuscripts 310 Register 311 Preface One day several years ago, I stood in my study and my eyes fell upon a book. Grey, disheveled, torn, it spoke to me of its age and the many moves it had witnessed. On its spine of grayish-brown paper stood in faded blue letters “Das Jüdische Jahr”. I distinctly remembered inheriting this book when my grandmother had passed away around 40 years earlier and it had been with me ever since. This book however had never really caught my attention – it rather served as intellectual memory of my grandmother and with it the terrible years of Nazism she had survived. But on that day, I took notice, I opened it up and read: ‘Dr. Manfred Swarsensky’ and “published 1935 in Berlin.” These two facts started the enquiry into who the author was and how a book with distinctly Jewish contents could be published as late as 1935. Much to my surprise from this unremarkable moment in my study a story began to unfold that occupied several years of my life. Rabbi Swarsensky it soon turned out was one of many rabbis who had managed to escape, and his book was one of countless books published during the Nazi era on the practice of the Jewish faith. ‘German Rabbis in British Exile’ is about him but also about the 184 other rabbis present in Germany before the November pogrom of 1938. It focuses on those rabbis fortunate enough to rescue themselves and their families to the safety of Britain. Over 80 of their colleagues and their families were not so lucky and could not leave – their fate is also part of this story. Rabbis were part of the intellectual elite of Germany and German Jewry. As a group representing the Jewish faith, these men stood at the intersection of Jewish culture and religion. At the same time, they represented the cultured assimilation that had been going on in Germany since Emancipation and they had internal- izing the ideals of “Sittlichkeit and Bildung” through their educational achieve- ments. This book is an attempt to delineate an heritage. It identifies what has been lost and defines what of the rich culture was transferrable and successfully transferred into exile. The book in my bookshelf was an echo from the past – a call that had to be heeded, a story that needed to be told and it has materialized in the following pages. In this book, the German rabbinate in British exile emerges as a distinct refugee sub-group and their experiences are traced from the onset of Nazism in Germany in the 1930s to those in Britain, ending in 1956. The rabbinate rose to unprecedented prominence under the Nazi regime as it was part of the communal leadership structure within German Jewry and it maintained this role in the early years in exile. The end of the war and the vanishing of outside pressures impacted on the German rabbinate and changed it into a different, modern, Anglo-Jew- ish institution – with German roots and influences. With the changed demands 2 Preface of the Anglo-Jewish population on religious expression came new demands on their rabbis. With the ageing German rabbis passing on, the German-Jewish heritage was transferred into Anglo-Jewish institutions such as newly founded synagogues and the Leo Baeck College. This was possible through the rigorous training the rabbis had received in Germany and their dramatic experiences all of which gave the impact for religious expansion in Britain. These influences turned the progressive but also the orthodox movement into powerful forces in the Anglo-Jewish landscape today. On a human and personal level this book uncovers that the experiences of the German rabbinate, despite its prominence and elevated positions, unfolded along the same lines as that of the general refugee population fleeing Nazism – with the same drama, heartbreak and despair. In their leadership capacity however rabbis were able to reclaim their posi- tion in the midst of the refugees, which were the remnants of their former communities now in exile. With that newly found leadership function they once again held responsibility and power. Out of this rose the attempts of transplanting and maintaining the German Jewish heritage in Britain. It was a desperate and only marginally successful undertaking and only few traces of this once proud heritage are still recognizable today. All of this had a dramatic influence on the course and the future of Anglo-Jewry. The introductory part contains a literature review, methodology section and theoretical framework. Within these sections the aspects on which this research touches are discussed in particular the issues of Jewish identity, network theory and exile. Furthermore the theories around Jewish leadership, rabbinic authority and its role in the relationship to disaster recovery are highlighted. This part is then followed by four chapters depicting the research into the lives and experiences of the German rabbinate. The first of these chapters ‘Serving and Preaching’ narrates these experiences in Germany until the November pogrom and subsequent emigration. The chapter ‘Inbetween’ provides insight into the Anglo-Jewish context into which the refugee rabbis were going to enter and the rescue schemes which made their emigration to Britain possible. Next follows ‘Arriving and Settling’ detailing the experiences of the refugee rabbis in Britain and includes their work for the refugee agencies, the children of the Kindertransports, their own internment and deporta- tion to the burgeoning beginnings and re-emergence of a refugee rabbinate. The last narrative chapter ‘Ending and Beginning’ starts with the end of World War II and traces the developments in the post-war years for the individual rabbis as well as the religious movements in Britain. The year 1956 marks the ending of the book and is the year when Leo Baeck passed away. The concluding chapter then ties the narrative chapters into the introductory chapter and the applied concepts and answers the question of German-Jewish rabbinic heritage in Anglo-Jewry. Preface 3 Acknowlegdement While every dissertation is the work of a lone individual, it cannot be realized without the help and support of a large number of people. You all know who you are but it is my heart’s desire to thank you again: Thus I thank all the survivors, refugees and their children who encouraged me and opened their lives and hearts to me. Thanks to all my friends and family for loving and supporting me through this. And thanks to the one above for bring- ing this topic and this task into my life. Particular thanks goes to all the honest and upstanding academics who generously shared their advice and gave much encouragement. (in alphabetical order) Prof. Dr. Annette Boeckler, Leo Baeck College, London. Prof. Dr. Vinita Damodaran, University of Sussex, Brighton, UK.

Load more