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The first bar mitzvah I saw in my life was in Germany. In Obersulm, where I live with my daughter Judit there aren't any Jews. But in a neighboring place, Affaltrach, there is a synagogue, well what is left of it; they didn't demolish it, when during the Kristallnacht [23] all the synagogues were demolished and set on fire. The farm-buildings were near, and they were afraid the fire would spread, and everything would burn down, so they didn't destroy it. However, they robbed this synagogue as well.
Twenty years ago an association was established in order to save the synagogue: 'Freundeskreis ehemalige Synagoge Affaltrach' that means the Society of the Former Synagogue of Affaltrach... My daughter is a member of this association too. They restored it and renovated it nicely as it was, but they don't use it for keeping services in it, for there isn't any Jew or rabbi, but only a museum, and they organize concerts there. I was four times at concerts in this synagogue. There is a German Lutheran priest, Helmut Krause, he's the president of the association, and he's always there when they perform a concert. My daughter undertakes duties at the museum; everybody is a volunteer there.
Recently, in spring 2007 the last event was a bar mitzvah; the parents brought the child there from Stuttgart. This bar mitzvah was the first religious event, since the synagogue was restored. The parents are in fact from America, and the father does his military service as a soldier in Germany. The rabbi who conducted the service also came from America. It was a very interesting event. Unfortunately I didn't understand a word of it, because he was praying in Hebrew, but in between he was also explaining to the public, which was mostly American.
Twenty years ago an association was established in order to save the synagogue: 'Freundeskreis ehemalige Synagoge Affaltrach' that means the Society of the Former Synagogue of Affaltrach... My daughter is a member of this association too. They restored it and renovated it nicely as it was, but they don't use it for keeping services in it, for there isn't any Jew or rabbi, but only a museum, and they organize concerts there. I was four times at concerts in this synagogue. There is a German Lutheran priest, Helmut Krause, he's the president of the association, and he's always there when they perform a concert. My daughter undertakes duties at the museum; everybody is a volunteer there.
Recently, in spring 2007 the last event was a bar mitzvah; the parents brought the child there from Stuttgart. This bar mitzvah was the first religious event, since the synagogue was restored. The parents are in fact from America, and the father does his military service as a soldier in Germany. The rabbi who conducted the service also came from America. It was a very interesting event. Unfortunately I didn't understand a word of it, because he was praying in Hebrew, but in between he was also explaining to the public, which was mostly American.
Period
Location
Affaltrach
Romania
Interview
Magda Fazekas