Leo Baeck

Leo Baeck was born on May 23, 1873, the sixth of eleven children. His parents are Eva Baeck, née Placzek, and Samuel Baeck. His father is the rabbi of Lissa (today Leszno), his mother also comes from a rabbinical family. Leo Baeck's birthplace, Lissa, was a wealthy medium-sized town in the Prussian province of Posen. Its wealth was based primarily on its clothmakers' guild and its desirable location as a trading center. It is also home to the largest Jewish community in Posen.

The surname Baeck indicates a long tradition: it has nothing to do with the profession of baker, but stands for the Hebrew "Ben kadosh", which translated means "son of the martyr". An ancestor in the Middle Ages had escaped forced baptism by ritual suicide. The families of Leo Baeck's father and mother were descended from a total of six Jewish clergymen. The still young Leo will continue this tradition.  

Samuel Baeck introduces his son Leo to the study of Torah and Talmud at a very early age, as the boy shows a great talent for languages. His father teaches him Hebrew as soon as he can speak.  

Even before graduating from high school, Leo Baeck knew that he wanted to become a rabbi. He obtained his university entrance qualification at the Johann Amos Comenius High School in his birthplace of Lissa. At this school, his father, the rabbi of Lissa, worked to ensure that Jewish religious instruction was also included in the curriculum. He had to write the textbooks for it himself. 

Leo Baeck goes to Breslau, where since 1854 there is the Jewish Theological Seminary, founded by Rabbi Abraham Geiger. It is considered one of the most important Jewish educational institutions in Europe. There he studies in the rabbinical department, whose educational canon comprises seven years. In parallel, Leo Baeck studies philosophy at the University of Wroclaw. 

In 1894, he transfers to the Liberal College for the Science of Judaism in Berlin, where he also studies philosophy, history and philosophy of religion in parallel. Leo Baeck earns his doctorate in philosophy in 1895 under Wilhelm Dilthey. The subject of his doctoral thesis deals with the Jewish philosopher Baruch de Spinoza, the title is "Spinoza's first impact on Germany." 

In 1895, Leo Baeck accepts his first rabbinical position in Opole, Upper Silesia.
 

During World War I, Leo Baeck was a field chaplain for Jewish soldiers. In addition to church services, his task was to provide spiritual support and maintain contact with the homeland - especially when it was not possible for the soldiers to do so. Often it was for sad reasons that Leo Baeck had to write to wives and mothers. However, in the following case to Margarete Gerson, the wife of Jakob Gerson, he was able to report pleasant things:

"Dear Madam! / In the church service in R. I was together with her esteemed husband. To my joy I can report to you / good things about his condition. / May God protect him in the future! / Sincerely, Dr. Baeck, Rabbi" 

The field postcard was sent by Leo Baeck from Dünaburg in Latvia. The place is now called Daugavpils. Jakob Gerson returned from World War I and died on June 10, 1950, at the age of 71; His wife Margarete died on November 10, 1952, at the age of 70.

Leo Baeck was not only a rabbi, but also enormously diligent as a scholar. Already during his first rabbinate in Opole, which he held from 1895, he wrote on his main work "The Essence of Judaism", which was published in 1905 and is Baeck's best-known book. 

Another extensive scholarly work is "From Three Millennia. The Gospel as a Document of the Jewish History of Faith." This is a collection of essays on the history of the Jewish faith. Baeck compiled it in the 1930s and wanted to publish the book in the Berlin Schocken-Verlag - with the approval of the Secret State Police (Gestapo). 

Directly after the book was published, the Gestapo withdrew its approval, and almost the entire first edition had to be pulped. Only a few copies of the first edition have survived. A second edition did not appear until 1959. A rare copy of the first edition is in the Jewish Museum Berlin; it is a gift from Wolfgang Hamburger. Hamburger studied at the Liberal College for the Science of Judaism in Berlin from 1939 and became a rabbi. Leo Baeck was one of his most important teachers.

JMB: A rare collector's item from our library: Leo Baeck's essay collection

From 1912, Leo Baeck was a community rabbi in Berlin. After returning from World War I as a field rabbi, he quickly made a name for himself in various Jewish bodies and organizations. His judgment, prudence and negotiating skills were appreciated. 

In the Weimar Republic, Leo Baeck was one of the best known representatives* of liberal Judaism in Germany. In 1922 he became chairman of the General Rabbinical Association in Germany, and from 1925 he was also chairman of the Central Welfare Office of Jews in Germany. 

His most difficult task was held by Leo Baeck from 1933, when he was appointed president of the Reichsvertretung der Deutschen Juden. Under National Socialist rule, the Reichsvertretung der Deutschen Juden was an important self-help organization. Due to the increasing emigration of Jews, many administrative tasks had to be taken over, such as the care of orphaned properties and the support of impoverished members. The organization of schooling for Jewish children who were excluded from instruction in German schools was also among the tasks. 

As president of the Reichsvertretung der Deutschen Juden, Leo Baeck felt responsible for the fate of countless Jews, so he did not take advantage of any of the numerous opportunities and offers to emigrate. On January 28, 1943, he was deported from Berlin to Theresienstadt. There he was classified as "Prominent A" - which allowed him a somewhat better living situation in the ghetto as well as a somewhat larger food ration - and above all, initially, protection from further transports to Auschwitz. 

As before the deportation, it was now again Leo Baeck's task to mediate, organize and decide. As a member of the Council of Elders, his qualities were once again in demand. 

He set up a lecture series together with other inmates, which was part of the "leisure activities" offered in Theresienstadt. Since very many people in the camp came from scientific professions, it was not difficult to assemble a group of excellent speakers. 

Leo Baeck survived the Theresienstadt concentration camp. When the Red Army reached Theresienstadt on May 8, 1945, Baeck was about to celebrate his 72nd birthday. Just four weeks later, he emigrated to England and settled in London. There he founded the "Institute for the Study of Judaism in Germany since the Enlightenment," named after him. 

Baeck's great vision that Jews*Jews in Germany could live a life in peace and in exchange with non-Jews was finally destroyed. Leo Baeck formulated it after his liberation as follows:

"Our belief was that the German and Jewish spirit could meet on German soil and through their marriage become a blessing. This was an illusion - the epoch of the Jews in Germany is over once and for all."

Leo Baeck died in London on November 2, 1956, at the age of 83. Many institutions in Germany and abroad bear his name in his honor. The Jewish Museum Berlin houses the branch of the Leo Baeck Institute archive in New York.