The Jewish Community in East Berlin

Author(s):  
Peter Kirchner
Keyword(s):  
2021 ◽  
pp. 321-340
Author(s):  
Tina Frühauf

In the aftermath of the purges of 1952/1953, the Jewish community in Berlin was divided into East and West constituencies. This chapter traces the trajectory of the East Berlin community from this division until 1971. Against all odds and in the midst of turmoil, communal life in East Berlin continued, centered around its only synagogue, which was rededicated in 1953 as Friedenstempel. Rykestraße Synagogue became a cultural hub. It instigated a series of synagogue concerts and opened its doors for the annual commemorations of the November pogroms. Given the dearth of cantors, the community also maintained contacts with West Berlin, which regularly freed its cantors from their duties so that they could assist, especially for funerals at the Weißensee cemetery and for special events. The continual presence of cantors from West Berlin was most significant. It gave way to a mobility of musical practices both in Kultus and concerts.


2021 ◽  
pp. 375-388
Author(s):  
Tina Frühauf

In the 1970s and early 1980s the Jewish community in East Berlin was able to restore its declining cultural life, in spite of a shrinking membership. Events at the new culture hall at Oranienburger Straße ensued with programs featuring discussions of Judaism, Yiddish literature, and other literary works, as well as recitals. Unlike the community center at Fasanenstraße in West Berlin, the East Berlin community closely adhered to Jewish cultural heritage and especially embraced Yiddish culture. In parallel, Yiddish music as a perceived expression of Jewish secularity and antifascism began to attain a new position in mainstream events, a development mainly driven by Lin Jaldati. Aside from this, the Jewish community maintained their Kultus at Rykestraße Synagogue, continued the series of synagogue concerts, and the annual Kristallnacht commemorations. In parallel to the community, alternative Jewish groups began to form.


2006 ◽  
pp. 351-373
Author(s):  
Maciej Kubicki

This article describes the circumstances in which a German crew shot a film in the Warsaw Ghetto in May and June 1942. The author employs visual materials and eyewitness' accounts of Warsaw Ghetto Jews. They are an important counterpoint, revealing the background and the persuasive dimension of the Nazi message. The text is aimed at an understanding of the propagandistic intention, rooted in the specifically Nazi techniques of persuasion. To do this, the author refers to the sources of anti-Semitic imaginarium and the modes of depiction of the Jew as an enemy figure. The reconstruction of the image of the Jewish community in this film is reinforced by references to broader ideological and socio-cultural contexts.


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