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The Newsletter of the American Friends Volume 16 of the Jewish Museum Hohenems , Inc. May 2015 I N T OUCH
M AY 2 0 1 5
L ETTER FROM THE PRESIDENT T IMOTHY L . H ANFORD Dear Friends and Supporters of AFJMH:
Now that the winter chill in much of the country is just a memory, it is my www.afjmh.org pleasure to invite you to enjoy this Spring newsletter. It provides a glimpse of some of the recent activities of the Jewish Museum Hohenems. Stephan Rollin Founder Museum Director Hanno Loewy introduces the newest exhibition, “A Streetcar
Named Desire: A Journey through Yerushalayim/Jerusalem/Al-Quds.” This Timothy L. Hanford streetcar has little to do with the one Tennessee Williams immortalized – President instead it is a relatively new streetcar that connects western Jerusalem with the Claude Rollin, Esq. Jewish settlements in the city’s Palestinian eastern part. Through photographs Vice-President and exhibits, visitors will experience a journey through Jerusalem and the divergent cultures thrown together in the city. Uri Taenzer, Esq. Secretary-Treasurer Dr. Loewy also provides an update on the Museum’s successful exhibition, “Jukebox. Jewkbox! A Jewish Century on Shellac and Vinyl” that closed in T RUSTEES Hohenems in March. The exhibition is now in Munich and next year will be in Dr. Robert Amler Poland. We should all be proud that the Jewish Museum Hohenems is Nicole M. Angiel producing scholarly (but nonetheless entertaining) exhibitions that are of Ronald Bernell interest to international audiences.
Doris Billes The Museum had its best attendance year ever in 2014. Much of what the Francesca Brunner-Kennedy Museum has accomplished is made possible by your generous contributions Nadia Follman passed on by the AFJMH. As you read about what the Museum is up to, I hope you will consider making additional (tax-deductible) gifts to the American Friends James Hirschfeld of the Jewish Museum Hohenems. This is especially important as the Museum Hon. Susan Shimer continues its preparations for the 2017 Descendants Reunion. Harry Weil, Jr. Monica Wollner Sincerely, Tim Hanford President, American Friends of the Jewish In Touch Editor: Museum Hohenems Nicole Angiel In Touch Designer: Save the Date: Amanda Kennedy Hohenems Descendants Reunion Please send your In Touch at the Jewish Museum Hohenems articles to [email protected] July 27-30, 2017 Page 2 Volume 16 NEWS FROM THE M USEUM D R . H ANNO L OEWY Working for the Jewish communities, more Museum Hohenems is than ever. a challenge every day. We are part of a lively The team knows that community that reach- only a developing mu- es around the globe. It seum, with creativity is a great gift to be able and innovation, can to communicate with confront this ever grow- descendants and ing and intensifying friends all over the mission. We have start- world, and to welcome ed a process to evalu- guests from all conti- ate our work and to dis- nents almost every cuss our future, within week. The American our team, with our Friends of the Jewish board of directors, and Museum Hohenems with our sponsors, both are at the heart of this public and private. New thrilling experience. forms of financial re- sources have to be Welcoming 17,800 visi- shaped that will make tors (more than ever) to us less dependent on the museum in 2014 public money, and ena- was another challenge ble us to call for public for us. We work hard to support with self- Jukebox. Jewkbox! A Jewish Century on Shellac and Vinyl © engage a diversity of confidence. Dietmar Walser people from all back- grounds in the dis- It’s you, the American bition in Hohenems Around 1900, a Jewish course of our exhibi- Friends, who help us to from October 10, 2014 immigrant, Emil Berlin- tions, to encourage make Hohenems an to March 8, 2015, was er, changed the world. young pupils and stu- inspiring place – for extremely successful. With the invention of dents from Austria, those who want to pre- The show can now be the gramophone and Switzerland and Ger- serve heritage and for seen in the Jewish Mu- the record, the first me- many to discover the those who want to build seum Munich, right in dium of a global culture richness of the Hohen- the future. the center of the city, was born. And the Jew- ems heritage and its from March 24 to ish century found its Diaspora, and to take Successful exhibition November 22, 2015. expression on shellac part in the evolving on Jewish pop-culture More venues are to and vinyl—from the in- multicultural civil socie- and the history of shel- come. In Fall 2016, the troduction of synagogal ty of the region. All of lac and vinyl exhibition will travel to music into the Jewish this demands our at- Poland, to the Museum middle-class home, to tention, and our travel- Jukebox. Jewkbox! A of the History of Polish the reinvention of Jew- ling shows now reach Jewish Century on Shel- Jews, the largest Jew- ish folk music, from the out to other places and lac and Vinyl, our exhi- ish Museum in Europe. (Continued on page 3) In Touch Page 3
NEWS FROM THE M USEUM (CONT)
(Continued from page 2) mond Wolff – and per- European Summer Uni- cultural traditions, the career of Yiddish thea- sonal contributions by versity for Jewish reality of poverty and tre songs on Broadway, Timna Brauer, Harley Studies, Hohenems / hardships in everyday to the rebels of punk. Swedler, Barbara June 28 – July 3, 2015 life are forgotten all too The history of shellac Kirshenblatt-Gimblett, Poor Jews! About Pov- often. The majority of and vinyl was also a Michael Asch, Cilly Ku- erty European Jews histori- history of Jewish inven- gelmann, Vladimir cally have lived on the tors, musicians, com- Vertlib, Lizzie Doron, Jewish life in Europe verge of misery. Subor- posers, music produc- Marian Fuks, Ari Rath was informed by the dinated to particular ers, and songwriters. and many others. experience of poverty laws and regulation Their music — the 45rpm record included. for centuries. Behind they were cut off by sound of the 20th cen- both the success sto- large parts of the econ- tury — was not always The catalog is available ries and the dramatic omy, limited in their so- “Jewish” music, but still for purchase from the catastrophes, and cial and cultural life, or a product of Jewish ex- museum for 29,90 € apart from the nostal- (particularly in Eastern perience. Jukebox. (plus shipping and han- gia of the Shtetl and Europe) confined in a Jewkbox! takes you on dling). the discourse about partial autonomy that a journey of discovery through unfamiliar The Grüninger Dossier worlds of popular cul- ture, accompanied by Alain Gsponer’s movie personal stories about about Paul Grüninger, records that have the Swiss police officer changed many a life. in St. Gall until 1939, The exhibition is ac- who helped more than companied by a catalog 3,000 Jews in 1938 to in an English edition escape into Switzer- too. land, is now available
in the museum with Jukebox. Jewkbox! A English subtitles. The Jewish Century on Shel- producer of the film is c lac and Vinyl -films in Zurich, headed English edition | Edited by Peter Reichenbach, by Hanno Loewy | a descendant of both Bucher Verlag, Hohen- the Hohenems’ Reich- ems 2014 | 312 pages enbach and Brettauer | € 29,90 | 23,5 x 22 families, and a member cm | ISBN 978-3- of our academic board. 99018-297-0 | 45rpm record included You may order the DVD With essays by Caspar from the museum for Battegay, Alan Dein, 19,00 € (plus shipping (Continued on page 4) Helene Maimann, Ray- and handling). Museum visitors in the Jukebox. Jewkbox! exhibit © Walser
Page 4 Volume 16 NEWS FROM THE M USEUM (CONT)
(Continued from page 3) an integral part of Jew- in traditional or modern specialized program for was informed by re- ish tradition and its forms of self-aid and students of Jewish pression and poverty. challenge, from the bib- solidarity will be the studies, in the fields of lical scripture, to mo- subject, as much as history and culture, lit- Mass emigration from dernity and socialism. the reflection, of pov- erature and linguistics, east to west and out of erty in the rabbinical religious studies and the traditional commu- The Summer University tradition. anthropology. Applica- nities in little towns and 2015 will study the so- tions for the program villages to the urban cial reality, but also the The Summer University are accepted and re- centers was the result, reflection and repre- Hohenems, now in its viewed by the Universi- offering new experienc- sentation of poverty in seventh year, is a joint ty of Munich. The one- es, but also new forms literature and religious project of the universi- week interdisciplinary of misery that became tradition, in the arts ties of Munich, Basel, program provides the the subject of political and media, from vari- Vienna, Zurich and students the possibility debates, ideas and uto- ous perspectives and Bamberg, together with to deepen their pias. The discussion disciplines. Attempts to the Jewish Museum knowledge and to dis- about poverty has been confront Jewish poverty Hohenems. It offers a cuss ideas related to a certain topic of Jewish studies with an interna- tional group of schol- ars, and in communica- tion with fellow stu- dents from various Ger- man-speaking coun- tries.
By joining the re- sources of the five par- ticipating universities, students are offered possibilities that go far beyond the scope of the single institutes and faculties. Collabo- ration between schol- ars and the museum is also encouraged on various levels. The for- mer Jewish Quarter of Hohenems and the Jewish Museum offers an inspiring setting for this collaboration.
Jewish Poorhouse Hohenems, about 1900 (Continued on page 5) In Touch Page 5
NEWS FROM THE M USEUM (CONT)
(Continued from page 4) Emsiana Festival 2015
The Museum has part- nered with several local cultural initiatives and institutions to organize the regional “Emsiana” Festival for the past six years. Between May 28 and May 31, 2015, ex- hibitions, music, thea- ter, readings, guided tours through the his- torical quarters and special programs for children will explore the heritage and the con- temporary life of the smallest European Me- tropolis: Hohenems. Exhibitions by artists from Hohenems and the international region Tone Fink’s plan for Emsiana will explore the chal- lenges of migration, world of fantasies from a knife sharpener tival, has been active multicultural coexist- about migration, by to one of Europe’s lead- for many years as a de- ence, historical experi- Tone Fink, one of the ing companies in the veloper in the historical ences along the border, best know artists from field of applied surface quarters of Hohenems. and the limitations of Vorarlberg today. intelligence. Later this life. A theatre project Where members of the same house became from Zurich will investi- Rosenthal family and a the home of the com- gate contradicting Jew- famous Jewish Cantor pany’s Turkish workers, ish claims of identity, once lived, families of and today it’s a part of and Daniel Kahn and migrants started their the diverse urban im- the Painted Bird from way into the local econ- provements taking part Berlin will present omy and society. The both in the Jewish quar- Klezmer Punk Cabaret. Collinis, Italian immi- ter and the former grants from the Trenti- “Christengasse” in Ho- A highlight this year will no region, started their henems. Markus be a painted house in business here more Schadenbauer-Lacha, the Jewish quarter, than one hundred who is our major part- turned into a colorful years ago, evolving ner in the Emsiana Fes- Page 6 Volume 16 A S TREETCAR NAMED DESIRE . A J OURNEY THROUGH YERUSHALAYIM -J ERUSALEM -A L QUDS An exhibition curated by Israelis, Palestinians and Muslims consider by walls or barbed wire Hannes Sulzenbacher and pilgrims, townspeo- holy, a city that people fences. In-between are (Vienna), with photo- ple and tourists meet. It from all parts of the the religious tourists ac- graphs by Galia Gur is a reflection of today’s world claim for them- commodated in special Zeev (Tel Aviv) volatile situation of Jeru- selves, and in which all pilgrim hostels and ho- salem’s urban society. conflicts of the past and tels. Still, they all meet— 1 present have their in markets and in shop- For the past three years, The exhibition “A Street- place. ping malls, in hospitals a controversial streetcar car Named Desire. A and parks, and, not has been connecting Journey through In Jerusalem, the most least, on the street. Eve- Jerusalem’s west with Yerushalayim- varying groups live very ryone casts their own Jewish settlements in Jerusalem-Al Quds” close to one another, interpretation over the the city’s Palestinian takes its visitors on a oftentimes in quarters city while blocking out eastern part. In it, Ortho- journey through the city that are closed off to the others or denying dox Jews and secular that Jews, Christians, each other, surrounded (Continued on page 7)
Refugee camp Shuafat: inside of the city territory but outside of the wall ©Galia Gur Zeev Page 7 Volume 16
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(Continued from page 6) lem with precious ob- them their right to exist. jects from various col- Pilgrim groups walk lections, and with every- through the city as if day life commodities through a projection ar- that mark the symbolic ea of their own holy ac- competition, the clash of counts. political claims and the power of the market With the streetcar, we that run the dynamics of move through the vari- the city. ous “Jerusalems” that exist next to each other 2 and against each other, As a place, Jerusalem often in the same place, has multiple epithets, be mutually obscuring each it “holy,” “eternal,” other. We drive through “God’s property,” ruins of past utopias “foundling,” or and along numerous “prostitute.” As the cen- monuments to the sym- ter of the three great bolic and political inter- monotheistic religions, pretation of this city. Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, the city was For this exhibition, the and is marked not only Relief Map of Jerusalem, American Colony Hotel, The Library Israeli artist Galia Gur by immediate religious and Museum of Freemasonry, London Zeev has explored and practices, whether traversed the city: sta- through temples, sancti- noted in their preface to mans, the Arabs, the tion after station along fication of sites, and the exhibition catalog: Crusaders, the Otto- the route of our exhibi- flocks of pilgrims, but “Without the historical mans, the French and tion streetcar. She has also by the position the impact of the Hebrew British. Writing about photographed places religions have adopted Bible, the New Testa- Jerusalem means where diverging histori- toward it through time. ment, and the Koran, writing about Solomon, cal or contemporary reli- Here, both vituperation Jerusalem would at best Saladin, and Suleiman gious and national inter- as well as deification be a pilgrimage site for the Magnificent, about pretations rub against already exist in the He- archaeologists, compa- Cleopatra, Caligula, and each other. Her images brew Bible, which is the rable to Troy.” Winston Churchill, about are a documentary gaze first reason for the city’s Nebuchadnezzar, Her- at the city combined time-transcending and In this context, the Jeru- od, Nero, about Emper- with a sensitive and crit- transregional signifi- salem biographer Simon or Wilhelm II, Rasputin, ical subjectivity: pictures cance: the Tanakh men- Sebag Montefiore and Lawrence of Arabia. of splendid sights and tions Jerusalem more opines in an interview It’s like the earlier wide- dilapidated houses, of than six hundred times. with the German daily screen movies, which walls and fences, pic- Henrik Budde and An- “Die Welt“: “Every em- featured all the known tures of bleak and con- dreas Nachama, cura- pire has made attempts stars of their time.” troversial areas. tors of the exhibition at conquering Jerusa- “Eine Reise nach Jerusa- lem, the Egyptians and The images of this city’s And we will enrich this lem” (A Journey to Jeru- Assyrians, the Persians history are as much journey through Jerusa- salem) (Berlin 1995/96) and Greeks, the Ro- (Continued on page 12) In Touch Page 8
CEREMONY M EMORIALIZING THE HOHENEMS VICTIMS OF THE NAZIS S USAN R OSENTHAL S HIMER A small stone, with a victims and read brass plate on a block the summary of of stone, barely 10 cm their research as by 10 cm, but very to each of the meaningful. Nine such victims. A brief stones were placed in synopsis ap- Hohenems on June 30, pears below. Nu- 2014 to mark the last merous towns- residences of the nine people, including persons, considered music students Jewish under Hitler’s and their teach- laws, who were deport- er, appeared ed from Hohenems be- along with the tween 1938 and 1940. school children None survived. at each site, as did the Mayor, Gunter Demnig installing blocks in front of the Elkan House A German artist, Gunter the Vice Mayor, Demnig, has placed Günther Linder, and of- The nine “Stolper- cifically becoming an more than 46,000 of ficials from the province steine” (tumbling Adventist. these stones in a num- of Vorarlberg, Mag. Har- blocks) placed in Ho- ber of countries in Eu- ald Sonderegger and henems were for: In 1936, she became ill, rope, memorializing the Vahide Aydın and Dr. lost much of her ability victims of Nazism. Hanno Loewy, the Direc- Frieda Nagelberg to work and from then Stones had been placed tor of the Jewish Muse- (1889, Stryi (then Aus- until the time of her de- in Vorarlberg once be- um Hohenems, and I, tro-Hungary)-1942, Izbi- portation, Frieda Nagel- fore, in Lingenau, but Susan Rosenthal Shim- ca). She moved to Ho- berg lived in the city not in Hohenems. er, a Trustee of the henems as a child in supported house for Demnig was invited to American Friends of the 1898. When her father those in need. Despite place these Jewish Museum Hohen- died in 1924, he left his her poor health, she did “Stolpersteine” (tumblin ems, a descendant, and family almost penniless. work at the poor house, g blocks) in Hohenems also a cousin of one of Frieda worked in the and the people there by the Mayor of the City, the victims, delivered environs of Hohenems wanted her to remain Richard Amann, togeth- brief comments at the as a domestic servant. and not be deported. er with the Cultural of- site in front of the Mu- After many years of ef- For Hitler’s purposes fice of the City of Ho- seum, where a stone fort, she achieved Aus- she was Jewish, even henems. School chil- commemorating Clara trian citizenship in though she had convert- dren from the local mid- Heimann was planted. 1930, citizenship she ed in 1930 to become dle school, together (Susan’s comments had lost when Stryi be- an Adventist. She was with Judith Niederk- were included in the De- came part of Poland af- deported in 1942 to Vi- lopfer-Würtinger from cember 2014 Special ter World War I. In that enna and then less than the Jewish Museum, Edition of the AFJMH same year she convert- two months later sent to worked on the biog- Newsletter.) ed to Christianity, spe- Izbica in South Poland. raphies of each of the (Continued on page 9) Page 9 Volume 16
HOHENEMS CEREMONY (CONT )
(Continued from page 8) 1939, he remained in Alois (Louis) Weil (1878 mund Steingraber, she Nothing more is known Hohenems and was ar- Hohenems-1938 Da- and her husband of her. rested on November 23, chau), a merchant and moved back to Vorarl- 1939. In December he librarian and also a berg. After her hus- Gisela Figdor (1882, was deported to Sach- Communist, whose po- band’s death in 1912, Vienna-1942, Vienna), senhausen, the concen- litical affiliation resulted Sophie returned to also a resident of the tration camp near Ber- in an even earlier death Vienna where she re- house for needy people. lin, and then on Sep- than the others. He was mained until 1914. Gisela was a descend- tember 20, 1940 he a businessman and a ant on her mother’s was brought to Gross librarian in the Hohen- Then she married Ignaz side of Abraham Rosen in Poland where ems Library Club. He Hauser who came from Schwarz, a resident of he was murdered on was active politically. In Pressburg, but had, Hohenems, whose fami- January 20, 1942. June 1938, he was de- since 1914, served as ly engaged in numerous local endeavors, includ- Clara Heimann ing the building of many (geb. Rosenthal) local trains in South Ty- (1866 Hohen- rol. She moved to Ho- ems-1942 There- henems with her moth- sienstadt). Clara er and in 1924, she was was born in Ho- registered in the Jewish henems in 1866 poor house. to Charlotte and Anton Rosenthal. She was ill by early She lived in the 1939 and by then, like house that is now all the other Jews, was the Jewish Muse- given a card designating um, until 1891. her as Jewish. After her Then she married deportation to Vienna, Josef Heimann she lived in an over- and moved to “Stolpersteine” (tumbling blocks) in Hohenems crowded so called Jew- Antwerp where ish apartment, became she lived until 1906 ported to the concentra- secretary to Rabbi Link very ill and died on Jan- when Josef died. tion camp Dachau near in Hohenems; Hauser uary 18, 1942. Munich and was mur- remained in Hohenems She loved Hohenems dered on August 19 that when Rabbi Link moved Markus Silberstein and so she moved back year. to Innsbruck and the (1904 Lemberg (now and lived in her former community wanted to Ukraine)-1942 Gross home until 1940. Then Sophie Steingraber- appoint him as their Rosen, Poland). His on May 31, 1940 she Hauser (geb. Rosenthal) new Rabbi. The mar- family moved to Vienna was deported to Vienna, (1863, Hohenems- riage with Sophie was in 1910 and then in and later in July 1942, 1942 Treblinka). She meant to secure his 1935 moved to Hohen- she was forced to leave was a daughter of Lud- Austrian citizenship, an ems where he rented a Vienna and was deport- wig and Amalia Rosen- attempt in vain. Igantz room. Although he was ed to Theresienstadt. thal, and a cousin of Hauser left Hohenems able to move family as- There on November 20, Clara Heimann. After and in 1919, Sophie, sets to Switzerland in 1942, she died. her marriage to Sieg- (Continued on page 10) In Touch Page 10
HOHENEMS CEREMONY (CONT )
(Continued from page 9) leader, bank officer and from Hohenems), she culty finding positions who had lost her regis- insurance agent and a like her husband and because of the strong tration as a Hohen- leader of the Synagogue son received the order anti-Semitism of Vorarl- emser, had to reapply who financially contrib- in May 1940 to pack up berg where he wanted for it and finally re- uted significantly to the and leave Hohenems to remain. At the end of ceived it in 1922. First World War effort. for Vienna. On August May 1940, he, together He was transported with 20, 1942, she was de- with his parents were Sophie lived with the the rest of his family to ported to There- forced to moved to Vien- Elkan family in Hohen- Vienna in May 1940. On sienstadt. Somehow na. He secured some ems until May 31 1940 August 20, 1942 he she survived there until work in Vienna, among when she was forced to was deported to There- February 28, 1944. other things as a gar- move to Vienna. On July sienstadt. Twelve days dener. Attempts by the 28, 1942 she was de- later he was dead. Hans David Elkan Elkan family to leave in ported first to There- (1900 Hohenems- 1941 failed. He and his sienstadt and on Sep- Helene Elkan (geb. Neu- 1944, Theresienstadt), parents were transport- tember 23 to Treblinka, burger) (1879 Bad a student at the Univer- ed to Theresienstadt, where she was mur- Buchau, Wurttemberg- sity of Freiburg of Mar- where he died at the dered in the gas cham- 1944 Theresienstadt). A tin Heidegger, earned age of 43. ber. descendant of the Bern- his PhD in 1927 and heimer family of Hohen- was a highly praised On a very different note, Theodor Elkan (1864 ems and a cousin of school teacher, who in at the end of the cere- Wien -1942 There- Elkan’s first wife Betty the late years before mony in front of the sienstadt) a Municipal Menz (who also came the Anschluss had diffi- Jewish Museum, Sue Shimer presented Dr. Loewy with a gift from the American Friends of the Jewish Museum Ho- henems. That gift, a beautifully crafted pen and pencil desk set, was presented in honor of Dr. Loewy’s 10 years of amazing work as Di- rector of the Museum.
Susan Shimer speaking in Hohenems, June 30, 2014 Page 11 Volume 16
WEINGARTEN U NIVERSITY S TUDENT HOUSING WILL OPEN SOON D R . H ANNO L OEWY “Denkstättenkuratori- this network of memori- be opened on um Oberschwaben” als, museums and as- the premises of (Board of trustees of sociations in Southern the Weingarten Memorials in Upper Germany, commemo- University. One Swabia) and the rating Jewish communi- of the homes “Foundation Weiße ties, resistance to Nazi will be named Rose,” named after the crimes, and acts of civil after Hans Da- famous German Anti- courage in Upper Swa- vid Elkan from Nazi resistance group bia, the region between Hohenems, who “The White Rose,” have Ulm and the Lake Con- studied philoso- been active for many stance. phy with Ed- years and are associat- mund Husserl in ed with Weingarten Uni- At the southern end of Freiburg, and versity in Southern Ger- this route of memory, one after Paul many, 50 kilometers which is propagated by Grüninger, the north of Lake Con- the network using vari- courageous stance. The Jewish Mu- ous media, lies Hohen- Swiss police of- seum Hohenems and ems, including its Jew- ficer, who saved the City of Hohenems ish quarter and the Mu- Jewish refugees Paul Grüninger, 1925 are both partners of seum, as well as the from Nazi- Paul Grüninger Bridge Germany and Austria. tions of students of between Hohenems Among the other per- past acts of civil cour- and Switzerland. Re- sonalities honored in age and the signifi- cently, “Stolpersteine” Weingarten are coura- cance of Jewish history (tumbling blocks) were geous Christians like and culture in our re- installed in Hohenems, Dietrich Bonhoeffer and gion. commemorating the Alfred Delp, or Georg last nine Jews living in Elser, who spend most Hohenems in 1939, of his life at Lake Con- and this installation stance and tried to kill was organized in coop- Adolf Hitler in 1939. eration with Professor Wolfgang Marcus, the We are happy to be head of the “Found- able to support this ini- ation Weiße Rose.” (For tiative and to continue more information about to foster our collabora- the tumbling blocks, tion with the foundation Hans Elkan, from his study please see page 8.) in Weingarten. We hope book in Innsbruck, where he On July 20, 2015, four these dedications will studied to become a teacher, remind coming genera- 1929 new student homes will Page 12 Volume 16
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(Continued from page 7) central point of conten- splendid film material tion. Representatives of as are the visions about both sides claim the city its end. The ideal, re- or at least part of it as built Jerusalem of Jere- capital either of Israel or miah is a city full of life: of Palestine. The reli- “Then through the gates gious grip on the city of this palace shall en- has partly made way for ter kings of David’s line the political, and the po- who sit upon his throne, litical has been charged riding horse-drawn char- with the religious, the iots, with their courtiers sacred symbolism and and their subjects.” the uncompromising Should, however, law gesture of “eternal es- and justice not prevail sence” and vice versa – as commanded, the making any attempt to prophet Jeremiah vows find pragmatic solutions in the sixth century even harder. B.C.E.: “…declares the Lord—that this palace None of the local partici- shall become a ruin.” pants in this struggle for (Jer 22:4, 5). hegemony of the place seem to act as neigh- All along, the history of bors to each other, Yerushalayim/Jerusale struggling for a position m/Al Quds has been that makes life together linked—for better or for possible. Rather they worse—to the question are all the spearhead of of to whom this city be- a wider, regional or glob- longs. Yet, this owner- al community that has View from the old city over the excavations of the “city of ship question must not turned Jerusalem into a David” into the Arab quarter of Silwan ©Galia Gur Zeev be conceived as just symbol of its uncompro- one of geography, par- mising claims. For many Arab nation, while for appropriations of this ticularly sovereignty, but Jews in the world Jeru- Muslims it’s a sacred city following a vehicle also as a spiritual one, salem thus is the symbol of Muslim unity that has altered the per- never mind from which “eternal capitol of a sov- throughout the world. ception of this city in re- place around the world ereign Jewish state,” cent years: the street- it is contemplated. while for Christians of The exhibition “A Street- car, called Jerusalem Moreover, it cannot be various, competing de- car Named Desire: A Light Rail. However, be- conceived as a purely nominations, Jerusalem Journey through fore we shall deal with it historical one either; in is the center of the Yerushalayim- in greater detail, we fact, it directly relates to world and of the apoca- Jerusalem-Al-Quds,“ wish to provide a con- the present: After all, lyptic prophecies of the moves along the rubble cise survey of the histor- ever since the onset of return of the messiah. of past utopias and the ical and geographical the Mideast conflict, For Arab nationalists the monuments of present space of this city. Jerusalem has been a city is the heart of the symbolic and political (Continued on page 13) Page 13 Volume 16
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(Continued from page 12) David and for Muslims lation brought about by participation in the prof- 3 David’s prayer niche. the Israeli government. its has not been equal. Key to the exhibition The footprint in the rock The image of the city Rather, it has created a concept are the nets of of the Temple Mount, evoked by Menachem social fabric of clerical meaning that have been which had been present- Klein shall simultane- and economic upper and still are cast over ed to Christian pilgrims ously emerge in this ex- and lower classes Jerusalem by the vari- as Jesus’ imprint, later hibition: “a city united in whose particular van- ous protagonists; nets, on became Muham- theory and divided in tage points are even in which only one’s own mad’s footprint. Many practice.” Jerusalem is more disconnected from reading is accepted and more examples are subject to a great num- each other than those other interpretations available: There is a ber of different interpre- among religious zealots. often fail even to be tomb on the Mount of tational sovereignties, Jerusalem’s sites are acknowledged. Jerusa- Olives that in Christian both by its inhabitants not only subject to nu- lem will be shown as a tradition is ascribed to as well as by its visitors. merous religious city, in which everybody Saint Pelagia, in Jewish In his “Jerusalem biog- interpretations, they sees the same, yet tradition to the prophet- raphy,” Simon Sebag were and still are also means something differ- ess Huldah, and accord- Montefiore, too, holds carriers of meaning for ent by it and thinks ing to Muslim reading to that visitors to the city men, women, children, something different the saint Rabi'ah al- were “generally pilgrims locals and foreigners, about it, a city whose Adawiyah. Even the new with blinders who hardly rich and poor, well- objects are embedded bridge by Spanish archi- perceived anything be- established or outcasts, in different narratives. tect Santiago Calatrava yond their own religion.” for clerics as well as for is to some a departure prostitutes, for tycoons The Citadel becomes for toward architectural mo- All along, the religions as well as for the brig- Christians the Tower of dernity while to others, have ensured a flourish- and bands who used to because of its ing economic life as well lie in waiting outside the shape (“King Da- as a vibrant urban every- city for the flocks of pil- vid’s Harp”), it is day life. Ever since bibli- grims. another appropria- cal times, the need has tion of Jerusalem by existed to accommodate All these groups live in way of Jewish inter- and feed flocks of the Jerusalem side by side, pretational sover- faithful and pilgrims; often in tight, separate eignty. Today, the merchants and chang- quarters, often confined most conspicuous ers of sacrifice money by walls or barbed wire contrast of political made a living in front fences. A heterogeneous nature is undoubt- and in the Temple; in- urban population emerg- edly evident in the vestments into the city es that has little in com- interpretation of the have been and still are mon and little to do with “security fence,” coming from all around each other. Neverthe- which Israel has the world; magnificent less people meet, in the erected “as protec- sacred and mundane markets and shopping tion against terror edifices have frequently centers, in hospitals and attacks,” and which showcased competing parks, and not least, in to those excluded political, religious, or the streets. For several by it is nothing but economic interests in years now, a new meet- Mizrach of Moses Montefiore, an expression of the Jerusalem. Yet, as is the ing place exists in the Jewish Museum London oppression and iso- case everywhere else, city, the Jerusalem Light In Touch Page 14
A S TREETCAR NAMED DESIRE (CONT)
(Continued from page 13) quarters of the town, trian Hospice, that ceptions of the city. In Rail: this streetcar con- built on the rubble of marks the old Austrian the exhibition, it defines nects Mount Herzl to Deir Yasin, an Arab vil- claim to represent the the central path through Pisgat Ze’ev in East Je- lage, whose inhabitants heritage of the crusad- the city, lined by stations rusalem. had been massacred by ers, the Kings of Jerusa- where the city’s conflicts the Irgun in 1948. From lem. Continuing through were and are ignited. At All along this ride we run this disturbing conflation the heart of Palestinian each station a conflict into competing narra- of memories of catastro- Jerusalem between the will be recounted, be it a tives, connected to the phes and hopes, the Damascus gate and the current argument or be same stones and hills, journey takes us down American Colony Hotel it a historical dispute, tombs and streets. On to the old city, to the and to the Arab quarters many of which are the Mount Herzl we see the Church of Sepulchre, and refugee camps of basis of present con- grave of the legendary where different Christian Shuafat and Beith Hani- flicts. founder of Zionism, who denominations violently na, our tour with the for himself, envisioning fight for their share of Light Rail ends in the The streetcar’s route is a secular, multicultural time and space, to the new Jewish settlement lined with places that and civil society Kotel where Orthodox of Pisgat Zeev. have ignited and keep dreamed of a grave in Jewish men attack Jew- igniting the city’s con- Haifa, not in Jerusalem. ish women who want to The streetcar is now the flicts. Each site has its Walking down the slope read from the Torah, to city’s most conspicuous own stories and repre- of the hill we encounter the Haram Al-Sharif, public means of sents a different area of Yad Vashem, Israel’s where the Muslims pres- transport; in it, Orthodox tension. This streetcar national memorial of the ence competes with a Jews and secular Israe- through Jerusalem has Holocaust. And from its political archeology un- lis, Palestinians and pil- been controversial from balcony, the visitors dermining the Temple grims, townspeople and the start, the route itself overlook one of the new Mount – and to the Aus- tourists meet. The a political issue. Politi- streetcar forms cians maintained that it the main strand connects the city’s east- of the city’s traf- ern and western part fic system. and its various groups of Along its sta- inhabitants. However, its tions, in walking actual planning was de- distance, are all signed to deal with the those sites Jewish settlements in where the vari- the east of the city and ous historical or not with the Arab parts current interpre- of the city it passes tations are re- through. Yet, for many of flected. It trav- the city’s inhabitants, els on a fixed independent of their track through origin or religion, it has the net of com- also become a carrier of The Light Rail on Jaffa Street, next to the Central Bus Station ©Galia peting narra- hope; after all, it Gur Zeev tives and per- (Continued on page 15) Page 15 Volume 16
A S TREETCAR NAMED DESIRE (CONT)
(Continued from page 14) caftans are leaning represents an ardent against the cold stone- desire that many Jeru- wall and weeping over salemites harbor for the palace, which is de- their city: the desire for stroyed. ... the everyday life of an international metropo- On the other side are lis. the expansive Jewish and German agricultural The streetcar might colonies, the large con- drive toward this vents and the many be- “normalcy,“ toward a nevolent institutions. … station where, to be Here are the splendid sure, the various inter- mission schools, where pretations will not coa- the pupils are given free lesce, but where they instruction, board, lodg- are able to tolerate ing, and raiment for the each other: However, sake of winning their this “Streetcar Named souls. ... It is here, the Desire” has not yet Catholic speaks evil of reached its final stop. the Protestant, the Indeed, it is still far from Methodist of the Quak- there. er, the Lutheran of the Reformist, the Russian 4 Postscript of the Armenian; here “You now have come,” lurks the demon of en- Selma Lagerlöf writes in vy; here the zealot mis- 1902 in her novel Jeru- trusts the worker of mir- salem, “to the holy side acles; here orthodox of the city. Here you contends with heretic; Jaffa Street ©Galia Gur Zeev think only of ancient here one finds neither High Priests and serv- pity nor tolerance; here salem of soul hunting; one murders without ants of the Temple. Just one hates in the name this is the Jerusalem of weapons. It is this Jeru- inside the wall is the of God everyone else. cruel tongues—of false- salem that kills.” Wailing Place of the And it is here that you hood, of slander, of re- Jews where Rabbis in find what you have been vilement. Here one per- their long red or blue seeking. This is the Jeru- secutes untiringly; here
Hohenems Mayor Re-Elected
The American Friends of the Jewish Museum Hohenems would like to congratulate Hohenems Mayor Richard Amann on his re-election at the end of March. Mayor Amann has been a longtime friend to the Jewish Museum Hohenems. We are also happy to report that following the election, Amann's run-off opponent personally expressed his regret for the derogatory remarks he had made about the Museum's Director, Dr. Hanno Loewy, a few years ago. In Touch Page 16
The Newsletter of the The Jewish Museum of Hohenems, as a regional museum, remembers the rural Jewish com- American Friends of the munity of Hohenems and its various contributions to the development of Vorarlberg and the Jewish Museum surrounding regions. It confronts contemporary questions of Jewish life and culture in Eu- Hohenems, Inc. rope, the diaspora and Israel - questions of the future of Europe between migration and tradition. I N T OUCH The museum also deals with the ISSN: 1559- 4866 end of the community of Hohen- ems, the regional Nazi history, the expulsion or deportation of the last members of the community, anti-Semitism and the Holocaust. Along with these fragmented lines of regional and global history, it is also devoted to the people and their histories and maintains a relationship to the descendants of Jewish families in Hohenems around the world.
The permanent exhibition in the Heimann-Rosenthal Villa, which was built in 1864, documents the history of the Jewish community in Hohenems which existed for over three centuries until its destruc- tion during the era of the Nazi re- gime. The museum offers annually changing exhibitions and an exten- sive program of events.
Please visit us on the web - J OIN U S . . . B ECOME A M EMBER AND L ET’ S K EEP I N T OUCH ! Jewish Museum of Hohenems http://www.jm-hohenems.at
American Friends of the Jewish Museum Hohenems http://www.afjmh.org
During the first meeting of Annual dues are $25. We thus enable the American the descendants of Jewish hope to count on you to Friends to continue to families from Hohenems in join today. make important contribu- 1998, the idea to found the tions to the Museum at American Friends of the Dues can be sent to: Hohenems as well as to Jewish Museum Hohen- PO Box 237 other endeavors designed ems, Inc. emerged. The Moorestown, NJ 08057- to contribute to knowledge association unites the nu- 0237 of the Hohenems Jewish merous descendants living Community as it was when in America and supports Any additional contribution our ancestors lived there. the Jewish Museum of Ho- you could make would be henems in various ways. very much appreciated and