Facing History at Holy Blossom Temple

A story of destruction and Jewish continuity

By Vlad Dunaevsky, new member of Holy Blossom and Temple Singers

 

Vlad’s parents lived in Essen, Germany, and when Vlad & Olga visited them, they often passed by the Old synagogue (Alte Synagoge). It was a big surprise to discover the connection between the 1938 Kristallnacht in Essen & Holy Blossom Temple’s Ner Tamid (Eternal Light)! The Holy Blossom Ner Tamid is right above the Holy Ark in the Main Sanctuary.

Essen Reform Alte synagogue, the centre of Jewish social and spiritual life, was built in 1913 and served 4,500 community members. The massive stone building was considered one of Europe’s largest and most architecturally significant synagogues.

Twenty-five years later on November 9, 1938, the synagogue was burned at the hands of Nazis on the eve of Kristallnacht, while eye-witnesses could only watch in horror and dismay. The fire department was instructed not to put out the fires but merely to stand by and ensure that the adjacent properties did not go up in flames. The synagogue’s interior was plundered, vandalized and badly scarred by fire. Jewish men were arrested by the SS during Kristallnacht and forced to march through the streets to a nearby synagogue to see it destroyed. It is likely that anywhere from 1,500 to 3,000 Jews died as a result of the violence and 30,000 others were afterward sent to concentration camps.

Joseph Goebbels, Germany’s minister of propaganda held a press conference the next day. He lied to reporters, telling them that Kristallnacht was not a government action but a “spontaneous” expression of German anger toward Jews. Two days later the German government fined the Jewish community for “property damaged in the rioting” with one billion marks (US$ 250 million, March 2024 historical exchange rate).

The interior of the synagogue was badly damaged by arson. Its appearance remained almost intact. Due to the massive construction made of reinforced concrete, the SS was unable to demolish the building, contrary to their plans; blowing it up was impossible because of the surrounding houses. Miraculously the building survived the Second World War.

A replica of Ner Tamid from the Essen Synagogue was contributed to the HBT in 1946 by Samuel Lunenfeld “in memory of all the victims of Hitler persecution, whatever their creed or race” and was dedicated by Rabbi Feinberg at Erev Rosh Hashanah that year.

According to the HBT Archives, the note in the bulletin of October 7th, 1946 gives the history of the Essen synagogue. It appears that Rabbi Feinberg got a detailed photograph from Hebrew Union College Library for an artist to work on re-creating the light. So, while not authentic to the synagogue, it has a very direct connection to the Essen synagogue. Rabbi Feinberg told the press at the time “the torch of Jewish idealism and teaching has thus been handed on to a land which sustains Jews and accords them equal rights, from a land which murdered and exiled them.”

Now we can see that Ner Tamid, destroyed in the ruins of the Essen synagogue 85 years ago, is shining again at Holy Blossom Temple. May We Be Worthy of the Heritage Left to Us. What a remarkable Toronto-Essen link!

Thanks to Rabbi Yael Splansky and Susan Cohen from the Archives Committee for sparking our curiosity, facing Essen-Toronto history and finding yourself @ HBT.