Gröbzig city walk

"Judenjreeb'zch" - the small town on the River Fuhne has borne this nickname for a long time. Translated, it means "Judengröbzig". This is not a defamatory term from the Nazi era, but a nickname due to the relatively high proportion of Jewish citizens in the town compared to other towns in Anhalt.

The Jewish population has played a significant role in the history of Gröbzig over a period of almost 300 years. The community was founded in the middle of the 16th century.

There is evidence of a Jewish settlement in Gröbzig since the middle of the 17th century. Around 1670, the community was given a piece of land that was unusable for farming to establish its own cemetery. This still exists today and, with its 248 gravestones, is an indispensable source of genealogical research.In the 18th century in particular, the town was very popular with Jewish merchants and traders. Gröbzig's location on the border of Anhalt and the Prussian province of Saxony offered favorable conditions for trade. Jews were allowed to live in Anhalt under certain conditions, whereas in Halle/Saale or Leipzig they were only allowed to visit the trade fairs to buy their goods, but were not allowed to live there. For the year 1753, it is documented that 40 Jewish families lived in Gröbzig, which represented 15% of the total population at the time.Due to the growing number of members in the middle of the 18th century, the Jewish community received permission and support from Prince Leopold III Friedrich Franz to build a new synagogue. The new synagogue, with a floor area of 11×13m and a colorfully decorated barrel vault ceiling, was completed in 1796. It was not only the religious center of the community, but also an important meeting place for exchange.

Berthold Karger, the last community leader of the Jewish community, was not from the Gröbzig region like his predecessors. In January 1923, the former community leader H.W. Blumenthal wrote to the town of Gröbzig to inform them that the merchant Berthold Karger was to become the new community leader in Gröbzig. Born on July 31, 1863 in the now Polish town of Wolsztyn (Wollstein) (murdered May 12, 1940), Berthold Karger, who was influenced by Eastern and Orthodox Judaism, came to Gröbzig in the early 1920s together with his wife Marie, née Posener (18.02.1869 - 21.09.1942) and their daughter Johanna (30.03.1898 - 25.11.1941). In addition to his work as a community leader, he was a merchant and occasionally ran a store selling methylated spirits.

Due to the departure of many members and the ageing of the Jewish community, the last nine remaining members of the community decided to make their synagogue available to the local history association as an exhibition space. After a farewell service on August 12, 1934, a prayer room was set up in the former school building. On November 18, 1938, one week after the Reichspogromnacht, all of the Jewish citizens' rental contracts were terminated and they had to move into the Kantorhaus. The Karger family was deported to Berlin as early as September 1939. Berthold Karger and his daughter Johanna died in the Jewish Hospital Berlin, which served as a collection camp. Marie Karger was murdered in the Treblinka extermination camp. The remaining money of 985 Reichsmark from Johanna Karger's savings account was eventually confiscated by the NSDAP. Today, numerous prayer books with handwritten family tree information and name entries in the collection of the Gröbzig Synagogue Museum bear witness to the history of the Karger family. This allows a bridge to be built from the home and Jewish tradition in Wollstein to the community in Gröbzig.

The once large Jewish community, which earned the town the nickname "Judengröbzig", lost many members due to the rural exodus that began after the founding of the Reich in 1971. In 1934, there were only nine members left and, due to maintenance costs, the synagogue was handed over to the town or the local history association for further use. The remaining members used the school building as a prayer room until they were deported to various temporary camps.

"Gröbzig is now free of Jews," wrote the mayor on October 1, 1940, after Rosalie Meyerstein was the last Jew to be deported to Halle. This simple sentence abruptly ended a long coexistence of the different denominations in the town.

We commemorate:
Emmi Blumenthal, born on March 12, 1890; deported via Hamburg to the Minsk ghetto on March 27, 1939; murdered on November 18, 1941

Ernst Blumenthal, born on December 6, 1884; deported via Coswig to the Auschwitz concentration and extermination camp; murdered on April 19, 1943

Berthold Karger, born on July 31, 1863; deported to Berlin on October 17, 1939; died in Berlin on May 12, 1940

Johanna Karger, born on March 30, 1898; deported to Berlin on October 17, 1939; died in Berlin on November 25, 1941

Marie Karger, née Posner; born on February 15, 1869, deported via Berlin to the Treblinka extermination camp on October 17, 1939, murdered on September 21, 1942

Henriette Löwenthal, née Salazin; born on August 9, 1861; deported via Berlin to the Theresienstadt ghetto on November 29, 1939, murdered on November 1, 1943

Rosalie Meyerstein; born July 10, 1860; deported on September 15, 1940 via Halle/S. to the Theresienstadt ghetto, murdered on February 27, 1943

Johanna Salazin; born on January 6, 1864; deported to Berlin on November 29, 1939; place and date of murder unknown

Henriette Schlesinger; born on May 17, 1868; deported to Berlin on July 4, 1940; place and date of murder unknown

Mathias Löwe, who was born on February 7, 1813 and died on June 7, 1896, lived with his wife Friederike (née Gerson, 1813-1902) at Marktplatz 14. From 1850, Mathias Löwe held an official office in the town as secretary of the municipal council and municipal collector.

In addition to this prestigious office and his work as a cutler, he submitted an application to open a tobacco and cigar trade in 1851. The responsible trade and commerce commission in Gröbzig rejected his application on the following grounds: "The application of the patent (...) is rejected by a vote of 11 to 1, as there has not yet been a lack of such needs for the public here".

In his office as municipal collector, he had financial responsibility for Gröbzig. His duties included the collection of taxes. Highest town offices, such as that of Mathias Löwe, to which one had to be elected, are evidence of the close cooperation between Jews and Christians in Gröbzig.

The economic situation of the Jewish population in the 18th century can generally be described as poor. Many of them were affected by poverty. They worked almost exclusively as peddlers in a strenuous and barely lucrative business. The reason for this was the prohibition of professions at the time, as Jews were not allowed to join the guilds. They were only allowed to trade, lend money and study. The situation improved in the 19th century. Jewish women* Jews were granted citizenship rights and thus also permission to practice a trade. However, many Jewish families in Gröbzig were still affected by poverty.

An example of this are the residents of Marktplatz 21: the married couple Henriette and Salomon Herzfeld (born 12.01.1817). They traded in clothes, cut goods and second-hand furniture. However, as they could not make a living from all this, they received state support from 1854. In 1858, they also had to pledge their stock of goods and apply for a pauper's certificate. They were granted the right to a ducal allowance. Hoping for better living conditions, they left Gröbzig after 1863.

The Meyerstein family was one of the oldest Jewish families living in Gröbzig. The family tree can be traced back to the first half of the 18th century. The Meyersteins were mainly active as traders and merchants. Like many other Jews, civic and religious equality in the 19th century opened up new fields of economic activity for them. This often led to a move to the industrialized cities.

Rosalie Meyerstein was the last member of her family to live in Gröbzig. She was born here on July 10, 1860. After attending the town's secondary school, she worked as a landlady. Rosalie Meyerstein remained unmarried and childless. As her work could not provide her with a full livelihood and a sufficient pension, she was dependent on support. She received this not only from state funds but also from various Jewish and non-Jewish foundations.In the files of the city archives, she is listed in several electoral rolls. There is also a letter stating that Rosalie Meyerstein's rental contract for the apartment at Marktplatz 19 was terminated as a result of the November pogroms. She then lived with the other eight Jewish women* in the community's Kantorhaus. After the deportation of the other members of the community, Rosalie Meyerstein was the last Jewish woman from Gröbzig to leave the town on September 15, 1940. Her journey then took her to Halle to the Großer Berlin 8 retirement home, which was affiliated with the synagogue community in Halle.

In 1941, she moved to what was then Boelckestraße 24, from where she was finally deported to the Theresienstadt concentration camp via Leipzig on September 20, 1942. Rosalie Meyerstein was murdered there on February 27, 1943.

Hirsch Wolf Blumenthal was born on February 17, 1843 in Gröbzig and was only known to most of the locals as the "kleene Meester". When he began his apprenticeship with master locksmith Christoph Schubert, he was accepted into the guild in 1857. Three years later, he made a French lock with a closing latch as a journeyman's piece and was awarded the title of journeyman. With his traveling book, he also offered his skills to the Prussian state, as evidenced by a concession from 1864. He completed his apprenticeship with his master craftsman's examination in 1866. As a masterpiece, he made a decorative cast iron safe top with a coat of paint, which is still in the collection of the Gröbzig Synagogue Museum today. His store with a display window was located in his home at Marktplatz 12, where Blumenthal also trained apprentices at the end of the 1860s. According to stories, he gave small tin toys to the children of the town for the December holidays.

His skills were known far beyond the city limits. No other locksmith was able to repair a system located in Leipzig. He turned down a resulting job offer and returned to Gröbzig. Due to his skills and his short height of 4 feet 10 inches (approx. 1.50 m), he was nicknamed "kleener Meester".

In addition to his work as a locksmith, he was also a town councillor and head of the Jewish community. This is clear evidence of his high standing within the town, which also stemmed from his voluntary work. After the death of his first wife Friederike (1855 - 15.06.1885), he married Johanne Wohlgemuth (04.05.1858 - 09.04.1926) on February 24, 1887. He was the father of a total of nine children.

Hirsch Wolf Blumenthal died in 1934 and was the last person to be buried in the Jewish cemetery in Gröbzig.

Baruch Herzfeld was born in Gröbzig on December 5, 1811. After his education at the Franzschule in Dessau, he returned to Gröbzig and worked here as a teacher in the Jewish school. In addition to German and Hebrew, he also taught mathematics and geography, as well as French for particularly gifted pupils, such as Chajim Steinthal. In the course of founding an elementary school, in which Herzfeld played a key role, he left the teaching profession. He received a trade license as early as 1838. In addition to a store in which he sold shoes, among other things, he also ran a pawnshop, a lottery and an insurance office.
Chajim Steinthal remembered his former teacher as follows:

"If the reader has now gained sympathy for my teacher Baruch Herzfeld, he will probably accept the news that he resigned his position soon after 1840, married the most beautiful and educated girl, opened a business and earned the respect of his fellow citizens to an ever-increasing degree through his higher education and strict conscientiousness."

The girl in question was Pauline Löwe (15.03.1815 - 09.10.1899). The couple had two daughters: Henriette and Friederike. The family lived above their store at Marktplatz 8, where there is now a gap between buildings. The respect for his fellow citizens described by Steinthal can also be seen in the records of the town of Gröbzig. Baruch Herzfeld was elected second head of the municipality after his work as a municipal deputy and his involvement in the establishment of an elementary school. This is equivalent to the office of deputy mayor, which he held until the 1870s. According to an article in the Allgemeine Zeitung des Judentums of April 23, 1849, he was even elected mayor, which would make him the first Jewish mayor in Germany. Baruch Herzfeld died in Gröbzig on January 2, 1879.

Meyer Hirsch Apelt lived with his wife Therese, née Ascher, at Marktplatz 4. He was born on October 2, 1824 and was one of the town's wealthy citizens. Numerous stories and records show that Jewish and Christian citizens of all income and age groups lived closely together in Gröbzig and that there were no spatial separations.

The foundations are an important aspect of this. In 1878, Mendel and Johanna Gottschalk donated a sum of 3,000 marks, the interest from which was to go to needy citizens of the town. Section 5 of the associated statutes states that the money was to be awarded and paid out regardless of religious affiliation. According to the statutes, the money was paid out annually. A committee made up of the mayor, the head of the Israelite community and an elected member of the council decided how the money was to be distributed. Two thirds of the interest was to be paid out to the poor of Christian denomination and one third to the poor of Jewish denomination. The Jewish members of the community, Bele Apelt and Hirsch Levi Weil, also donated money for the poor on their behalf. In return, there was also the Christian Luise Voigt Foundation, which supported the Jewish woman Henriette Schlesinger, for example.

Meyer Schiff lived at Marktplatz 2 and worked as a lumber merchant and trader. Furthermore, as can be seen from the files of the Gröbzig town archives, he also worked as an insurance broker. This was made possible by the personal recommendation of the mayor Friedrich Haring. In response to a request from the Prussian National Fire Insurance Company in 1855, which wanted to open an agency in Gröbzig and asked him to recommend a suitable person, he replied: "In my opinion, the best (...) man is the merchant and cutlery dealer Meyer Schiff."

Born on 14 April 1821, he bought the house at Marktplatz 2 at the age of 30, where he ran a store and, like his neighbor Meyer Hirsch Apelt, achieved a certain level of prosperity. In addition to his high reputation as a business partner in the town, he also enjoyed this within the Jewish community. In 1854, for example, he acted as a representative of the community in a redistribution of land.

Meyer Schiff's home is located directly next to the former Ratskeller in the town hall. In 1855, he lodged a complaint regarding the bowling alley there. The reason for this was that after construction, the bowling alley roof covered his kitchen window. In an agreement between the two parties to the dispute, it was agreed that Meyer Schiff would be granted the perpetual eaves right, i.e. the right to drain rainwater onto the neighboring property. In addition, a window was to be installed in the bowling alley roof and more consideration was to be given to structural changes to the Ratskeller in future.

The author Chajim Steinthal was born in Gröbzig on May 16, 1823 and spent a large part of his youth here. He attended the Jewish school in Gröbzig under Baruch Herzfeld and graduated from the grammar school in Bernburg (Saale). He then studied at the University of Berlin, spending time in London and Paris, where he learned more than ten languages. After gaining his doctorate in 1849, he was appointed professor in 1862 and taught at the Institute for the Science of Judaism. He was a linguist, biblical scholar and Jewish religious philosopher. Steinthal published a large number of scientific works in these fields. Together with his brother-in-law Moritz Lazarus (15.09.1824 - 13.04.1903), he founded the psychology of peoples.

Steinthal's memories of his youth are an important source for today's research at the Gröbzig Synagogue Museum. For example, he described the synagogue as follows:

(...) Above the holy ark are the ten commandments on two panels held by two heraldic lions. In it are probably almost a dozen larger and smaller Torah scrolls, about half of which also wear their own silver jewelry, which they occasionally lend to the others. (...) One scroll in particular was very high, written in large letters and bore two crowns of a splendor that I will never forget. (...) The clothes of the scrolls, the curtains in front of the ark and the blankets over the almemorah matched this. They were partly colored and interwoven with gold threads, partly white with silver threads, namely these for the three strictest holidays and the celebration of the dead (...)

The comprehensive descriptions of the synagogue, the teacher and the cantor give the reader a personal insight into Jewish life in Gröbzig.

On March 14, 1899, Chajim Steinthal died and was buried in the Berlin-Weißensee Jewish cemetery (Field 1A - Row of Honor No. 14)

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The family of Sara Gottschalk and Gerson Josef Schiff lived as merchants in Gröbzig. Their son Julius Schiff (9.12.1856 - 21.05.1922) and his wife Jenny Frank lived at Schulstraße 18. Like his parents, he worked as a merchant. In addition to his professional activities, he was also involved in voluntary work within the Jewish community and in Gröbzig. The municipal archive records show that he was appointed as a community representative in the Mendel Gottschalk Foundation and was therefore involved in the distribution of funds. He also rendered outstanding services to municipal associations. In 1901, for example, he was awarded a badge of honor for his 20-year membership of the volunteer fire department. Julius Schiff's voluntary work is exemplary for community life in the town. Gustav and Gerson Goldstein and Meyer Hirsch Apelt were also members of the volunteer fire department and were honored for this.

The members of the Jewish community were not only involved in fire protection, however, but also in sporting, cultural and social activities. For example, Gerson Goldstein was crowned king of marksmen in 1899 and 1901. Members of the Jewish community were also involved in the first exhibition of the local history society, which was founded in 1929, for example by providing objects.

The son of master bookbinder Moses Löwenthal and his wife Sara Apelt, Louis, called Leo, Löwenthal was born on May 13, 1855. He was born at Bernburger Straße 18 and lived with his wife Henriette Salazin (09.08.1861 - 01.11.1943), daughter of the religious official David Salazin, at Lange Straße 32 from the time of their marriage in 1886. Löwenthal owned a tie factory and a store in Gröbzig. His ties were so popular that he even sold them as far away as Munich. Even though his work was important for the family's livelihood, his real passion was his native poetry.

He wrote his stories in the Gröbzig dialect and thus created something unique. They often dealt with the coexistence of Christian and Jewish citizens. His works include "48 tragic experiences of a small town" and the "Jreebz'jer Allerlei". His repertoire also included ceremonial speeches and poems. These were recited on birthdays and wedding anniversaries or the 100th anniversary of the synagogue, among other occasions.

Leo Löwenthal died on September 14, 1925 following an operation in Dessau. His body was cremated and buried in the Jewish cemetery in Gröbzig. Due to his great popularity, the funeral was attended by a large mourning community.After her husband's death, Henriette lived in the community's cantor's house in poor circumstances and received state support as a widow and small pensioner. She was one of the last nine members of the Jewish community and was deported first to Berlin in 1939 and then to Theresienstadt in 1943, where she was murdered in the same year.

The memory of Leo Löwenthal is still kept alive today by the Gröbzig Synagogue Museum. So far, two of his stories have been performed as plays: "Von Jreebz'ch nah Keeten" and "Die Weiweßen".

Consisting of 247 gravestones, the Gröbzig Jewish cemetery is the first evidence of the settlement of Jews in the region around Gröbzig from 1670.

When the castle in the town was demolished at the beginning of the 19th century, Prince Leopold III Friedrich Franz von Anhalt-Dessau (1740-1817) donated some of the stones for the surrounding wall of the cemetery as well as a piece of his farmland. Due to the location between Akazienberg and Fuhne, about two kilometers outside the town, the Jewish community used a hearse to transport their deceased. This was stored right next to the synagogue in the so-called hearse remise. The cemetery was partially destroyed during the Nazi era. After the end of the Second World War, all the tombstones that had been knocked over were put back in place. In addition, the stone of the Gröbzig local poet Leo Löwenthal was replaced in 2003 by the town's local history association.

The last burial in Gröbzig's Jewish cemetery took place in 1934. It was the burial of the master locksmith Hirsch Wolf Blumenthal, who was very popular among the people of Gröbzig. The cemetery is permanently closed.

Visits can be requested via the Gröbzig Synagogue Museum.