Talmud Tora School - New Hamburg Jewish Community Centre The Talmud Tora School in the Grindel Quarter of Hamburg was inaugurated on Wednesday 6 June 2007, with a religious ceremony, as the new Hamburg Jewish community centre. Chief Rabi Dov-Levy Barsilay attached a Mesusah, a kind of phylactery for the house, a shining metal case containing the scriptural text from Deuteronomy 6:4-9; 11:13-21, to the right door jamb, in accordance with Jewish religious tradition. Andreas Wankum, the chairman of the Jewish community said: "This is a great moment. The heart of Jewish life in Hamburg has returned to its historical centre in the Grindel Quarter". The school building, built in 1911, was ceremonially opened on 10 June, nearly 65 years after the National Socialists closed the school in 1942. The Hamburg Senate purchased the building after the war and in July 2004 returned it to the Hamburg Jewish community. The building has been renovated and converted, by the architects Carlos Montufar and Jens Heitmann, for its new role as administrative centre for the community. It also houses the Joseph Carlebach primary school. In 1933 about a quarter of the 20,000 Hamburg Jews lived in the Grindel Quarter of Hamburg. After the National Socialists came to power the persecution and deportations to the concentration and death camps began. On the Pogrom Night of 9/10 November 1938 the synagogue adjacent the Talmud Tora School was burned down. Foyer of the New Hamburg Jewish Community Centre New Hamburg Jewish Community Centre, front view. New Hamburg Jewish Community Centre, front view. New Hamburg Jewish Community Centre, front view. New Hamburg Jewish Community Centre, front view. New Hamburg Jewish Community Centre, front view.