Behind the Headlines the Jews of West Germany

Heinrich Heine, the famous Jewish writer and poet who lived in both Germany and France, once wrote that his birthplace, Dusseldorf, “is very beautiful. When you are far away from it, you think of it and you get a strange feeling that says, ‘I was born here and I feel as if I would have to go back there immediately’.”

Jews have gone back to this urban vibrant and cosmopolitan, charming Rhine River city. There are about 2,000 Jews in Dusseldorf out of a total population of 600,000. This West German metropolis contains the fourth largest Jewish community in the Federal Republic, following, Berlin, Frankfurt and Munich.

What strikes one immediately about the German Jewish community is that 90 percent of the Jewish population are not German Jews, but mainly Jewis who emigrated here from Eastern Europe. For instance, there are about two dozen Jewish doctors in Dusseldorf, but only a few were bom here or were bom of German Jewish parents.

In recent years, too, there have been a number of Israelis taking up residence in Dusseldorf, so much so that, according to German Jewish leaders, the government of Israel told West Germany immigration officials to make it more difficult for Israelis to settle here.

THE ATTRACTION OF DUSSELDORF

Heine was right about Dusseldorf, which today includes an “Old Town” section: tourist pubs, boutiques, art galleries, and an area where one can hear languages from all over the world, including Hebrew. Over the years, too, Dusseldorf has maintained its commercial importance.

Called the “desk of heavy industry,” many large corporations have headquarters here, as the region is a very highly industrialized part of a nation which second to Sweden has the highest standard of living in Europe. Despite recent economic reverses, increased unemployment and inflation, Germans still manage to have a per capita income of $12,400.

According to Dr. Leo Adlerstein, a lawyer who himself fled Germany in 1933 for Israel and who returned here in 1958, Jews are attractec to Dusseldorf because it is also on art and cultural center. It is also known as the “Paris of West Germany” because of its fashion industry and famous boulevard of designer shops called the Konigsalles, which is the heart and showplace of the city.

WEEKDAY AND WEEKEND SYNAGOGUE SERVICES

Before the war, there was only one synagogue in Dusseldorf which then had a population of about 5,000 Jews. Amemorial marks the old site of the Temple which was destroyed during Kristalnacht on November 9, 1938.

Today the synagogue is located at 50 Zietenstrasse and there are Friday evening services at 6 p.m. in the winter and at 9:15 a.m. an Shabbat morning as well as 7:30 morning services during the week. There is no kosher restaurant in Dusseldorf, but a kosher kitchen exists at the community center located at the synagogue and arrangements can be made for one taking kosher meals.

Incidentally, there are kosher restaurants in Frankfurt, Cologne, Munich, Berlin, and a kosher hotel recently opened just autside of Frankfurt. The synagogue in Dusseldorf calls itself liberal, meaning it closely resembles the Conservative movement of Judaism in the U.S.

CHRISTIAN JEWISH SOCIETIES PRAISED

Jews here praise what they call Christian Jewish societies which are very active and which help sponsor various projects. One such program is that of inviting those who were bom or lived in Germany before World War II to come and visit their former city.

Some municipalities even pay for their air transportation. Dusseldorf, itself, while not paying for the flight, will give each visitor spending money, tickets and tours. Many of the visitors come from Israel.

STRONG TIES BETWEEN GERMAN JEWS, ISRAEL

Over and over again, one learns from travels through Europe that it is Israel which supplies the teachers, the principals, the rabbis; and Dusseldorf is no exception. The ties between German Jews and Israel are strong. Most have visited the Jewish State.

From Dusseldorf, Israel is very close, less than four hours and El Al and Lufthansa German Airlines have frequent flights to Ben Gurion International Airport. In fact, traffic has been so good to Israel from Germany — especially in the winter to Eilat — that Lufthansa recently inaugurated a non-stop Dusseldorf-Tel Aviv flight.

On their part, Jews raise funds for Israel institutions. The Jewish community of West Germany is proud that after Holland, it comes in second in collecting monies for Israel.

Though the number of Jews in Germany is small, there is no doubt that they are a very talented people. The Jews of Dusseldorf, like the Jews of the rest of Germany, appear to be economically well-off. They don’t feel overt anti-Semitism.

RESURGENCE OF ANTI-SEMITISM

Generally, the resurgence of anti-Semitism in Europe is basically in the form of terrorist attacks on Jewish institutions and synagogues. Thus, after the synagogue attack in Vienna last year, security measures have been taken in West Germany, too.

Jewish leaders in Germany and Austria, told me that they and the police are watching the connection between neo-Nazi groups and Arab terrorists. Terrorism, after all, knows no boundaries and Jewish leaders indicate that the police in various countries are working together to combat and prevent the violent acts.

But in Western Europe, including Germany, there also are those who are watching the economic situation very carefully. Dr. Gerhart Riegner, secretary of the World Jewish Congress, told the WJC recently that he strongly believed that the worsening social and economic situation in Europe was at the root of the increase in anti-Jewish violence in recent years throughout Europe.

On a number of occasions, Jews have forcefully called upon West Germany to take stricter measures against neo-Nazi groups, for it is generally agreed that if the Federal Republic continues to defend its democratic rights against terrorism and dictatorship, neo-Nazism will have no chance of ever regaining power.