In the second half of the 19th century there was a rapid influx of East-European Jews that emigrated via Hamburg. The persecution of Jews in Eastern Europe, and the allied economic problems, led hundreds of thousands of Jews to emigrate and seek a better future in Western Europe and the USA. Numerous Jews from Poland came to Hamburg and Altona. After the First World War, the internal revolution in Russia, and persecution of Jews in Eastern Europe started a new wave of emigration. These poor Jews from the East were not welcomed by the affluent Hamburg Jews, but the Deutsch-Israelitische Gemeinde (German Israelite Community), as an integrated community of all Jews in Hamburg, saw it their responsiblity to assist these immigrants.
The western tradition of the synagogue service was alien to these East-Europe Jews. The prolonged
request for a synagogue of their own could not be indefinitely denied, and in 1925 the community
purchased a villa at No. 13 Kielortallee. The large hall on the ground floor could seat 150
men and 50 women. The first floor housed the "Rosch Jeschiwah" (yeshiva = a traditional Jewish school
devoted chiefly to the study of rabbinic literature and the Talmud), and the flat of Rabbi S.J.
Rabinow. He and his family had previously lived at No. 2 Bieberstraße, the former yeshiva, and
meeting place of the East European Jews. The private school, the Unger'sche Privat- Mädchenschule
mit Knabenvorschule, later the Unger'sche Höhere Mädchenschule mit Knabenvorschule, that
occupied the building refused to vacate the building. The community took the case to the county court.
The school asserted that they had occupied the building since 1913, and that the
classrooms had been totally renovated in 1924. Circa 170 children and 8 teachers would be turned out
following notice of eviction. They argued that the community had sufficient synagogues in the area.
The community, that in the meantime had concluded a contract with the Ostjüdische Verein
"Adas Jeschorim" e.V. Hamburg, prevailed in the case, but with the proviso that satisfactory
alternative accommodation be found for the school, or that the community pay the school 10,000 RM
in compensation.
Alfred Levy, chairman of the board representing the community, at the request of the court,
reported that services were held according to German, Portuguese, and Orthodox ritual
in Hamburg synagogues, but that a group of around 200 community members, who wished to worship
according to Spanish ritual, still had no suitable building.
The religious purpose of the building restricted the choice of property to detached, commercial
buildings. The
property at No. 13 Kielortallee was also ideally situated in regard to where the congregation
lived.
In a letter dated 4.06.1929, the Deutsch-Israelitische Gemeinde informed the association
of East European Jews, "Adas Jeschorim", that an agreement had been made with the school, and that
they had agreed to vacate the building. The building was converted, and consecrated on the
3.10.1929.
Rabbi Rabinow, strictly only the rabbi for the East-European Jews in Hamburg, became
surprisingly popular with other Jews, and especially with the youth. His discourses were so popular
that the spacious study halls and synagogues in which they were held were unable to contain all
those who wished to hear him. People often consulted him, also concerning Halacha questions (Jewish
religious law), knowing that his decisions regarding religious law were reliable, but also relevant
to the modern world. Although he spoke exclusively in "Jargon" (a contemptuous reference to Yiddish,
the language spoken as a vernacular by Jews from Eastern Europe), in both conversation and discourses,
this did not prevent him from being admired by Hamburg Jews. Dr. Joseph Carlebach, chief rabbi
of Altona, had "discovered" him, having met him during the First World War, in Lithuania. After
the First World War, in orthodox communities there arose a desire for, and establishment of, yeshiva
(a traditional Jewish school devoted chiefly to the study of rabbinic literature and the Talmud).
This was the case in the orthodox community in Hamburg. Dr. Joseph Carlebach untiringly recommended
the "Licht aus dem Osten" (Light from the East), in the person of Rabbi S.J. Rabinow to the
initiators of the yeshiva. Rabinow's success in Hamburg was later constantly referred to with gratitude
as one of Chief Rabbi Dr. Joseph Carlebach's major achievements for the community.
In the mid 1930's, Rabbi Rabinow received a position as acting chief rabbi in Antwerp, in the
Netherlands. A large section of the Hamburg Jewish community fought to retain the "Meister" ("Master")
in Hamburg, the city he so loved. In Adar (March) 1937, he moved to Antwerp, where he was greeted and
honoured "wie ein Furst" ("like a prince").
In 1938, the Verband polnischer Juden Groß-Hamburg e.V. (Association of Polish Jews
in Greater Hamburg) occupied a room on the first floor of No. 13 Kielortallee, in which it held regular
consultations.
Following the deportation of Polish Jews on 28.10.1938, to Zbaszyn, in Poland, it was necessary
to find a new use for the building.
(On 28.10.1938 the security police and Gestapo arrested 1,000 Hamburg Jews of Polish nationality and deported
them from Hamburg, and brutally forced them over the German-Polish border near the Polish town of Zbaszyn.
The fate of the majority is unknown. In the first half of 1939, a minority were allowed to return to Hamburg
under the condition that, within the following few weeks, they acquire ratification of "emigration" from the
financial department and other government departments, and then immediately "emigtrate". Many did not
achieve this within the set time limit, and were transported to Fuhlsbüttel Concentration Camp by the Gestapo.
There are a total of 355 established victims of the original deportation transport on 28.10.1938, to Zbaszyn
in Poland. The total number of victims is unknown).
No. 13 Kielortallee was sold in 1942, and today is privately owned.
German text: Dipl.-Pol. Wilhelm Mosel, Deutsch-Jüdische Gesellschaft, Hamburg.