German Jews Protest City Turning Destroyed Synagogue Site Into Public Pool
Freiburg, Germany Image by wikimedia
German Jews and their allies are demonstrating against an urban renewal project that has replaced the ruins of a Freiburg synagogue with a wading pool.
“It was heartbreaking and a shock for us all – especially some older Jews who had survived the Holocaust and now had to watch the remains of the old synagogue being destroyed again,” said Maren Stumke, an activist in the western German city.
Since its opening in August, Stumke and others have formed human chains around the pool on Sundays.
The controversy began last November, when construction workers discovered old stones from the synagogue while renovating the public square where it once sat.
Jews and allies then began to petition against the wading pool plans, but failed in their efforts, with the city instead installing a memorial fountain and christening the space “the square of the old synagogue” in homage to the Jewish congregation.
The Freiburg synagogue was ripped down and burned during the Kristallnacht pogrom in 1938.
Contact Daniel J. Solomon at solomon@forward.com or on Twitter @DanielJSolomon
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.
Now more than ever, American Jews need independent news they can trust, with reporting driven by truth, not ideology. We serve you, not any ideological agenda.
At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and the protests on college campuses.
Readers like you make it all possible. Support our work by becoming a Forward Member and connect with our journalism and your community.
Make a gift of any size and become a Forward member today. You’ll support our mission to tell the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
Join our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
