As a result of Jewish pogroms in Germany on the so-called “Kristallnacht” on November 10, 1938, more than two hundred and fifty synagogues were looted, burned and destroyed. Two of them were in Giessen, a university town on the Lahn in Hesse. A few months ago, during construction work, a well-preserved foundation of one of these temples was found here – the large New Synagogue (Neue Synagoge), built in the Moorish style in 1865-1876.
The synagogue was erected during the economic heyday of Giessen on one of the plots that were vacated after the demolition of medieval fortifications. It was then decided to dismantle the wall and towers, as in many other German cities, so that they would not interfere with the further development of infrastructure. In 1892, the New Synagogue was expanded as the community grew significantly. As a result, the temple could accommodate up to 500 people.
After the discovery of the foundation in Giessen, urgent archaeological excavations were carried out, during which traces of a fire were found on the masonry, partially melted metal objects and fragments of leather book bindings. Now they have been transferred to a special workshop in Wiesbaden for restoration and conservation.
In March, four historical excursions for everyone will be held at the excavation site – on the 4th and 12th at 11:00 and 13:00. No appointment required – www.giessen.de.
An unexpected find at a famous place
The authorities of Giessen, in cooperation with the city’s Jewish community and experts, will have to make a decision in the coming months on how to preserve the foundation – to create a memorial on this site in the middle of the park under a transparent glass cover, or to integrate it into the building that was originally planned to be erected here, while making the foundation accessible. for visiting.
The foundation was discovered during preparatory work for the expansion of the city’s Congress Hall (Kongresshalle Gießen). This center was built in the mid-1960s in the style of the so-called Swedish functionalism by the Stockholm architect Sven Markelius and is under architectural protection. The building is partially located on the former site of the Jewish community, which, after the pogroms, was forced to sell the land to the city for next to nothing.
In 1966, a commemorative plate was installed here in the very center between the theater and the town hall, near which official commemorative events are held on the anniversary of Kristallnacht. Why did the discovery come as a surprise, although in Giessen they knew exactly where the destroyed synagogue was located? Before answering this question, let’s talk about the history of the community.
History of the Jewish community of Giessen
The first written mention of Jews in Giessen dates back to the 14th century and is associated with anti-Semitic persecution here and in neighboring imperial cities – Frankfurt am Main and Wetzlar. As indicated in the historical city guide “Jüdische Orte in Gießen” (.pdf), at the beginning of the 17th century the community here did not exceed fifteen people, but at the end of the century it increased to twenty families. The entire population of the city was then about five thousand inhabitants.
The region developed successfully. Jewish merchants, in particular, were involved in supplying the Hessian army. Those who lived in rural areas were engaged in animal husbandry and agriculture. In the valley of the local River Lahn in the small village of Roth near Marburg, one rural synagogue has miraculously survived – Landsynagoge Roth. In 1938, it was looted, but not burned, as it was located in the middle of other wooden buildings.
In the 19th century, Jews in the Grand Duchy of Hesse, as in many other German states, were given equal rights. At this time, the community in Giessen already numbered four hundred people, after the First World War in the 1920s – more than a thousand people.
The National Socialists came to power in Germany in 1933, after which the Jews began to leave the country. Five years later, at the time of the pogroms, a total of about 350 people remained in Giessen. Many men after Kristallnacht were arrested and sent from here to the Buchenwald concentration camp, where they stayed for several weeks until they received papers to leave the Third Reich and (or) were ready to sign documents on the sale of their property – land, real estate and businesses far below the actual cost.
In mid-September 1942, 330 Jews from Giessen and the surrounding area were sent to the Nazi concentration camps Auschwitz and Theresienstadt. Of these, only six survived and returned. The list of killed or dead members of the Giessen community, which is kept in the Yad Vashem Holocaust Memorial Complex in Jerusalem, includes 236 names.
In 1948, the main organizers of the Kristallnacht pogroms in Giessen were brought to trial, but acquitted due to lack of evidence.
“Kristallnacht” in Giessen
On the night of November 10, 1938, the synagogue caught fire – allegedly without any external influence. The firefighters who arrived at the scene poured water on neighboring houses, but did not make any attempt to put out either this building or the burning second synagogue.
In the coming days after Kristallnacht, the charred walls of the New Synagogue were blown up, allowing then the residents of the city to use the debris and bricks for construction needs – as material for leveling plots, backfilling, and so on. Historians until recently proceeded from the fact that as a result the foundation of the temple was also completely or almost completely dismantled. After some time, the area was filled up …
On December 6, 1944, Giessen became the target of a devastating air raid by the British Air Force. As a result of bombs and the fire that started, the city center was almost completely destroyed. After the Second World War, temporary residential buildings were built on this and neighboring sites cleared of rubble. Later, the Congress Hall was erected, which, as already mentioned, is partially located on the former land of the Jewish community.
The excavations have so far only affected part of the foundation – the site on which, in fact, they planned to build an extension. Now there are proposals to expand the archaeological work in order to better study and document everything. Plans to expand the center for congresses and other events in the city are not going to be abandoned, which complicates the task of preserving the foundation as a monument and a monument, but a solution will be found – it’s only a matter of time.