On June 17, 1903, the former Potsdam synagogue was opened. However, already in 1938 there were the first attacks on the interior of the synagogue. On April 14, 1945, the synagogue roof was destroyed. Until the destruction in the war used as a post office hearing room.

In 1957, the GDR decided to demolish the synagogue. This was because the GDR was not willing to pay the cost of the roof renovation.

Who was Hannah Arendt?

Hannah Arendt, full name Johannah Arendt, was a Jewish German-American philosopher and publicist. She was born in Linden (modern-day Hanover) on October 14, 1906, and died in New York City on December 4, 1975. In 1933, she openly called for a fight against the National Socialists .

Residence of Hannah Arendt 1929/30      

The Jewish Community of Berlin is organized as a unitary congregation that operates six community synagogues, both Orthodox and liberal. Since 2006, Berlin has also had a Sephardic synagogue. Three rabbis of the Jewish community and several other rabbis, including a woman again since 2007, work in Berlin. With more than 10,000 members (March 1, 2018) the Jewish Community of Berlin is the largest Jewish community in Germany.

Jews settled in East Frisia since the beginning of the 16th century. In this time there was already a Jewish community in Norden. In 1569 the first cemetery was leased. It was the first cemetery in East Frisia. Also the Jews from Emden and Aurich buried their dead zunächst here.

The first synagogue was built in 1804 and rebuilt in 1903. A mikvah was attached to it. Next door was the school building and a house with administrative rooms.The synagogue was burned down in 1938.

The island of Norderney belonged to the synagogue community of Norden.