General Lucius D. Clay, American military commander in Germany, Ambassador Robert Murphy, his political advisor, and numerous other American can military leaders, German civilian officials and Jewish leaders today were present at the opening of Munich’s first post-Hitler synagogue. Some 800 persons attended the two-hour ceremony while hundreds of German onlookers stood outside the building.
The synagogue, first built in 1928 and destroyed by the Nazis in 1938, has been restored according to its original plans. Most of the religious ornaments date from the founding of the synagogue and were hidden during the Nazi regime. The Torahs and other equipment were donated by other congregations.
Gen. Clay paid tribute to the millions of Jews murdered by the Nazis, declaring: “We must not and shall not forget those who suffered, but it seems to me that today is a new day and that we should look forward not backward.” Major Abraham Hyman, legal aide to Rabbi Philip S. Bernstein, Gen. Clay’s advisor on Jewish affairs, unveiled a plaque to the Jewish war dead.
Dr. Ahron Ohrenstein, rabbi of the restored synagogue, conducted the first services. Speakers at the ceremony included Dr. Philip Auerbach, Bavarian Commissioner for Persecutees, Rabbi Alexander Rosenberg, Military Government liaison officer, and David Treger, chairman of the Jewish Central Committee of Germany.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
