Jewish life in Suhl: A historical tour full of memories

Jewish life in Suhl: A historical tour full of memories

On a sunny Sunday morning, around 40 members of the Erfurt Jewish community met for an important city tour in Suhl. The event, which recalled the city's rich history and Jewish heritage, was opened by Heidemarie Schwalbe on behalf of the Suhl Alliance for Democracy and Tolerance. The Erfurt guests were impressed by the sites of Jewish life in Suhl that they visited. They became particularly thoughtful in front of the Sander Villa, known as the “Judenhaus,” a place where more than 40 people were crammed together, which impressively illustrated the difficult living conditions during the Nazi era. An article in the newspaper “Shofar” about the life of Käte Sander had previously aroused the interest of the Erfurt community and promoted commitment to the history of Jewish life in Suhl.

Jewish history in Germany stretches back more than 1,700 years. Jews already lived in the Roman province of Germania Inferior, although their legal status was often restricted. What is exciting is that Jewish communities, for example in Cologne, were documented for the first time with the decree of Emperor Constantine in 321. Over the centuries, the Jewish population in Germany grew significantly, particularly in the 10th and 11th centuries. This heyday ended in the 14th century with numerous pogroms and persecutions that would repeat themselves over the centuries. When the National Socialists came to power in 1933, the systematic persecution reached its cruel climax. This meant that after the Second World War there were only a few Jews left in Germany - many had emigrated or been killed.

Appreciation of Jewish personalities

A shining example of Jewish life in Suhl and beyond is the story of Max Levy-Suhl. Born on April 14, 1876 in Suhl as the third child of a merchant family, he was a respected neurologist and psychotherapist. With 41 scientific publications between 1904 and 1945, Levy-Suhl impressed numerous colleagues throughout his career. In 1933 he emigrated to the Netherlands with his wife Hildegard and his adopted daughter Berta to escape the Nazi regime. Levy-Suhl worked intensively for the well-being of difficult-to-educate children and founded a home in Amersfoort. His life ended tragically by suicide on September 26, 1947 in Amsterdam.

Levy-Suhl's story reflects the challenges that Jewish professionals faced during and after the Nazi era. He was the only one of the three German-Jewish psychoanalysts who emigrated to Holland in 1933 to survive the persecution. His wife died two and a half years after him, which highlights the loneliness and suffering that many experienced during this time. The ongoing anti-Semitism in Germany, which intensified after the Hamas terrorist attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, shows that the Jewish community is still confronted not only with history but also with current challenges.

Today there are a total of around 95,000 members in Jewish communities in Germany, which have organized themselves into 104 communities in the Central Council of Jews. Despite the flourishing Jewish communities, the security situation remains tense, which is evident from the prejudices and threats that still exist.

Through events such as the city tour, the Erfurt community and the people of Suhl promote awareness of the important role that Jewish life played and still plays in their cities, thereby showing that dialogue about the past and hope for a better future must go hand in hand.