The Nazis who desecrated the Jewish cemetery in this small German village, and the adjoining hamlet of Singhofen, are earning – the hard way – the meaning of the old American proverb that “Turn about is fair play.”
When the 276th Infantry of the U.S. 70th Division moved into Nastatten, which was the birthplace of Sen. Robert F. Wagner, to occupy the area, it found the Jewish cemetery in a deplorable condition. Headstones had been toppled over, name-plates smashed, marble and concrete marking slabs were missing, and refuse was strewn about. Investigation revealed that the missing slabs had been auctioned off to party members, who had them carted to their homes to use in their rock gardens, and one Nazi had utilized his purchase to build a new chimney on his home.
Cpl. Erich Meuhlstein, of Chicago, who was born in Singhofen, and Sgt. William Smith of Meridian, Conn., after obtaining permission from the AMG, went to the burgomeister and demanded the names of the men in the village responsible for the outrage. At meuhlstein and Smith’s order, and the former caretaker’s direction, each man who had bought any of the slabs was made to return them. This meant tearing up gardens, and, in the case of the one man, tearing down his chimney. But it was done. Then, while part of the group re-set the headstones and slabs, the others set about with hoe and spade to remove the dense weeds. After several days of hard work the cemetery was restered to its pre-war condition.
Then Meuhlstein and Smith went on to Singhofen, and later to the village of Miehlen, and at both places ferced the local Nazis to repair the damage they had done in the Jewish burial grounds.
JTA has documented Jewish history in real-time for over a century. Keep our journalism strong by joining us in supporting independent, award-winning reporting.
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.
