There is a large, well kept synagogue in this city in the province of Thuringia, rebuilt in 1952 to replace the larger, more impressive edifice destroyed by the Nazis during the notorious “Kristallnacht” of November, 1938.
But the Erfurt synagogue is not used most of the time. The local Jewish community numbers about 100 people, most of them too old and infirm to attend services regularly. The last time the congregation gathered there was to celebrate the Passover seder with kosher food supplied from Hungary along with haggadas in Hebrew. The last Jewish wedding was held here more than 10 years ago.
Herbert Ringer, chairman of the Jewish community in Thuringia, told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency that about 1,000 Jews lived in Erfurt before World War II. Of that number, 850 were killed by the Nazis in concentration camps and elsewhere. The survivors emigrated after the war to Israel, the United States and European countries. But 15 Jews subsequently returned to Erfurt to form the nucleus of a revived Jewish community which now accounts for almost all of the Jewish population of Thuringia.
TIES BY YOUNG DISCOURAGED
Most of them are old because the Communist authorities do not encourage young people to retain their ties to the Jewish community. Nevertheless, the community is treated well and receives subsidies from state and local authorities. But Jewish education is not available.
Ruth Cars, who runs the Jewish community center attached to Ringer’s office recalls the last Jewish wedding here, though she cannot remember the exact date. The family has since left for Israel. The bride and groom were granted exit permits — something virtually impossible for persons under 60 — because the bride had lived in Israel after the war and returned to Erfurt only to be married.
According to Ringer, the main task of the Jewish community here is to look after the 34 Jewish cemeteries in Thuringia. The work is on a voluntary basis and sometimes church and other organizations help. The Jewish community receives outside visitors only occasionally. They come to inform themselves about the Jewish past in the region and Jewish life at present which, in this province, is largely confined to Erfurt.
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.
