The Weight of History
Joseph Norden’s sermons from the 1930s still resonate today. In 1933, as Passover began, he told his congregation, "Maror and charoset, bitter and sweet, we eat it together." He sought to give his people hope even as Adolf Hitler rose to power. Despite the growing persecution of Jews, he preached resilience, urging his congregation to remember that "the same Judaism for the sake of which suffering is inflicted upon us holds joy, happiness, and exaltation in its bosom."
His grandson, Jochanaan Meinrath, was able to escape the Holocaust when his parents fled to Palestine. But decades later, he and his son Manny went missing after Hamas’ attack on October 7. Since that day, there has been no sign of life from either of them. Their relatives, both in Germany and the United States, have given up hope.
"It's terrible how the hatred of Jews by the National Socialists and today's anti-Semitism intersect in this family history," says Ulrike Schrader, director of Wuppertal’s Old Synagogue Memorial.
A Community Under Siege
Leonid Goldberg, the head of Wuppertal’s Jewish community, has spent years working to ensure Jewish life in the city thrives despite the dark history. But now, he is deeply unsettled. "It’s bad right now, really bad," he says.
The Old Synagogue, where Rabbi Norden once preached, was destroyed during the Pogrom Night of 1938. In its place stands the New Synagogue, inaugurated in 2002. It is now under heavy police protection, with armed officers stationed at its entrance.
Goldberg believes traditional far-right anti-Semitism in Germany can be dealt with, but he is alarmed by what he sees as rising hostility from "certain immigrant circles." The pro-Palestinian demonstrations that have surged in recent weeks, many filled with openly anti-Semitic rhetoric, have left him deeply uneasy.
And yet, there have been moments of solidarity. A week after the Hamas attack, over a hundred people gathered at the synagogue for a service. Public displays of support took place in Wuppertal, Solingen, and Remscheid. But for Goldberg, something is missing. "I haven’t heard anything from the Muslim communities in the neighborhood," he says.
"The Suitcases Are Packed"
After the attack, the president of the Central Council of Jews in Germany stated that the country remains safe for Jews. Goldberg is no longer convinced.
"We shouldn’t miss the moment when we have to leave," he says. Then, after a pause, he adds, "The suitcases are packed and ready. Or at least easily accessible in the attic."
His words reflect a painful reality. For many Jews in Germany, the fear of history repeating itself is not just theoretical—it is a real, growing concern. Even in Wuppertal, a city that has worked to preserve the memory of its Jewish past, the future feels increasingly uncertain.
https://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/jewish-life-in-germany-a-sudden-ominous-sense-of-insecurity-a-e21696e4-35f8-4c32-9300-f875885ef638