oldenburg-l - Nachricht 2008-01 00118

[Annette Sweetman <bubs(a)nc.rr.com>]

Chris
I would love a copy of the visbek book... where did you obtain that one?
Thanks
Annette

Christopher Grote wrote:
> Fred and others,
>
> Thank you for the interesting and informative replies.  
>
> At home, I have books written on the history of Alfhausen (my grandmother's
> town) and Visbek (my grandfather's town), both written in German of course,
> which I do not speak.  One of these books, the one on Alfhausen I believe
> (this being a bit northwest of Osnabruck), has a chapter on Jewish people in
> that area.  If this listserv allows, I could try to scan the chapter and
> send it as an attachment, if someone here would have the interest and time
> in doing a quick read through and telling the rest of us what it says.
>
> Chris
> Chicag
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: oldenburg-l-bounces(a)genealogy.net
> [mailto:oldenburg-l-bounces(a)genealogy.net] On Behalf Of W. Fred Rump
> Sent: Monday, January 21, 2008 8:47 AM
> To: Oldenburg-L
> Subject: Re: [OL] Olderburg during the Wars
>
> On Jan 21, 2008 8:02 AM, Paul Rowold <paulrowold(a)kpnplanet.nl> wrote:
>   
> > Fred
> >
> > No one can deny that Oldenburg had a small jewish population which was
> > vanished  in WWII without any rumour?
> >
> > Paul
> >     
>
> Has anybody denied that? Let me give a little history of their plight.
> During the 18th century there were very few Jews in the Duchy of
> Oldenburg. Those who lived there were not considered as citizens of
> the communities they lived in. They had to pay for protection and for
> the right too settle which limited their presence pretty much to the
> city of Oldenburg, Varel and Jever. By 1822 there were 91 so called
> Schutzjuden (protected Jews) who paid a fee for the privilege of doing
> business in the duchy. These were the heads of household and together
> with their families totalled 746 people or less then 1/2% of the
> population. In 1827 the duke granted the Jews of his land religious
> freedom and provided the function of a chief rabbi to oversea their
> schools and religious observances. By 1854 nine synagogues existed in
> Oldenburg. (Berne, Cloppenburg, Delmenhorst, Jever, Oldenburg,
> Ovelgönne, Varel, Vechta and Wlideshausen). A thorough revision of the
> rights of the Jews was published in 1858 to enable them to be full
> partners in the citizenship of the country. These rules lasted until
> 1927. After WWI the state subsidy for the Jewish community was
> increased from 1500 to 4000 Reichsmark. 1932 brought an abrupt change
> to all the laws which had been provided for the protection of the
> Jews. The National Socialist state blamed the Jews for the WWI defeat
> of Germany and enacted all manner of laws to force them out of the
> country. Many left including the chief rabbi, Dr. Leo Trepp . Others
> were 'resettled' or arrested and died in concentration camps. The Jews
> of Oldenburg were mostly the businessmen who sold and traded goods in
> the communities they lived in. The slow disappearance of the Jews was
> not seen as an extermination attempt by the populace but mostly a
> quiet move out of the country. There were no protests as nothing as
> nefarious as what was actually happening behind the scenes was
> believable - even though all the synagogues had been burned on
> Krystallnacht this was just a bunch of ruffians doing evil deeds.
> People tend not to question the actions of their governments too
> severely as those are the people who are supposed to be smarter then
> us and we put them in power. As such we all deserve the governments we
> have.
>
> There are several synagogues in the Land Oldenburg today. Their
> membership is still only a few hundred but no real record exists of
> what may have happened to each and every family during those
> horrendous years of the Nazi regime. It can only be hoped that most
> emigrated before they were interned, for their own protection, as the
> government claimed. Schutzhaft (protective custody) was the word used
> to retain people without trial.
>
> Fred
>
>
>