6 Friday, December 21, 1979 Congress COLLECTION CORP. Our 35 Tars Of DeicatEd Soria NO COLLECTION ... NO CHARGE NATIONAL COVERAGE THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS And the Synagogue Still Stands, Unhurt by War LOWEST PRICES c0"';:"4,. PROFESSIONAL / 1 7-. COMMERCIAL RETAIL ACC BAD CHECKS Cassette Dictating Transcribing Machines , 342-7801 FIRESTONE 551-6800 Call Harry Jacobs kff Jacobs I 17390 W. 8 Mile Rd. Southfield, Mi. 48075 r recently to participate in the Fourth International Congress for Exile Litera- ture, the specialized area of study that deals with the German authors driven out by Hitler. The papers were out- standing— learned disquis- itions on the writers' perse- cution beyond Germany's borders, about their lan- guage difficulties when try- ing to adopt to the publish- ing demands of their second or third — homeland, their slow assimilation to a new country and to the different language. By DR. GUY STERN (Editor's Note: Dr. Guy Stern is the provost at Wayne State University.) About 30 of us had been invited to a conference cen- ter in Southern Germany JEWELRY Wholesale Diamonds & Jewelry RemounOng Jewelry & Watch Repairing. SUITE 318 ADVANCE BLDG 23077 Greenfield at 9 Mile 13131- 557.1860 Many of the speakers, re- presenting various West European countries, the U.S., Canada and Au- stralia, were quite young and treated the events of more than 30 years ago, still fresh in the minds of the older participants, with a certain historical detach- ment. An event followed which transmitted the past into the present: we heard that within a few miles of us, in the small Swabian town of Ichenhausen, a synagogue was standing intact — undefiled by the so-called Kristallnacht of 1938, when the burning of German synagogues foreboded the burning of the worshippers. Our trip to Ichenhausen If You Want to BUY 'EM We Want to SELL 'EM! See Us First! GLASSMAN OLDSMOBILE, INC. 28000 TELEGRAPH at Tel-12 Mall 354-3300 Just South of 12 Mile Rd . THE J.C.C. IS GOING CROSS-COUNTRY! (SKIING THAT IS) SESSION I January 14 & 28 * * FEES SESSION II February 4 & 18 PER SESSION * * Members—with equipment $24, without equipment $28 Non-members—with equipment $30, without equipment $34 SESSION FEES INCLUDE: • round-trip transportation, trail fees, ski Instruction, equipment rental If neede d M MMMMM .91 MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM RESIGTRATION FORM CROSS-COUNTRY SKI PROGRAM Please use separate registration form or copy for each registrant _member _non-member • Name • Zip Address Office I Phone: Home . Age I Session One Session Two Please make checks payable to Jewish Community Center and mail to: SKI CLUB, Jewish 1 Community Center, 6600 W. Maple Rd., W. Bloomfield, Mi. 48033 ATTEND A FREE TWO HOUR SKI CLINIC!! Thursday, January 3, 7:30 p.m. at the West Bloomfield Building movie & special guest lecturer QUESTIONS? Contact Gail at 661-1000, EXT 182 r ciiille ial Oh arfzigra' ..- • ' t SAY IT WITH TREES DR. GUY STERN took less than half-an-hour. On the way there we quickly reviewed the his- tory of its once thriving Jewish community, and the reasons for the community's genesis in this remote rural part of Southern Germany. The reasons went back to the 18th and 19th Cen- turies. The district was, for a long time, an Austrian out- post within German terri- tory, and the Austrian em- perors had been more tolerant of their Jewish citi- zens than the rulers of the surrounding German states of Bavaria and Swabia. So the Jews settled in Ichenhausen, launched their trade forays from there, fanning out into Germany — and built a jewel box of a synagogue in the enchanting style of the European rococo complete with houses for the rabbi and the shammes. We drove straight to the ancient townhall. The mayor himself received and guided us — and called in a city council- man, Moritz Schmidt, as an additional expert guide. We walked past the house of the sham- mes; the Hebrew letters above the door were fad- ing, though still legible. And then we stood in front of the synagogue. The joyous playfulness of the rococo-style blended in singular synthesis with the seriousness of a Jewish house of worship. We entered the synagogue. In the vestibule hung a variety of plaques, the names of prominent members of the community throughout the centuries. Councilman Schmidt pointed to it and told a very personalized history of the community: "I knew many of these since childhood." His narrative was colored by the regional dialect, was told without rhetorical skill, in fact rather uneven and halting — and for that very reason entirely credi- ble. "You know, before 1933 nobody hardly paid any at- tention to people's religion. One of our Jewish fellow- citizens was president of the sports club; that's one of the big honors in our small town; several were mem- bers of the volunteer fire brigade and that, too, was a real honor. And when all that trouble started with the Nazis, some of us here in Ichenhausen tried to put in a good word for our Jewish population — yes, we were naive at first." The mayor has brought a file along from his office, showed us a once secret party file with an order "The local party leader cannot be trusted on Jewish affairs." Such anomalies did exist. the entered We synagogue. The mayor ex- plained, with embarrassed apologies in every word, "We use the synagogue nowadays as a storage room, mostly for fire- fighting equipment. We're a poor community; when the Jews left or were taken away, we lost our most productive citizens and trade opportunities. And so, after the war we had to find a function for the building. Without that we couldn't have maintained it here in the middle of the village. And we made only slight alterations, all of them eas- ily removable." It's true. the few shelves and room dividers do not touch the walls; not a single one of them obtrudes upon the beautiful wall paint- ings. These consist of flow- ers, wreaths and garlands: the biblical stricture against representing human images is strictly adhered to. The mayor showed us a set of photo- graphs: "This is the way the interior of the synagogue looked before; someday we will restore it exactly as it was." "Yes," I said, "but how did the synagogue sur- vive the night of destruc- tion?" Councilman Schmidt becomes even more embarrassed: "My father and a few other citizens convinced the police, they in turn the stormtroopers, that the haylofts would also catch fire and that the whole village might burn down." The synagogue survived. Two years ago the 80-year- old rabbi of Ichenhausen came over from New York to visit the site of his former congregation. Before us he was the last Jewish visitor. There were tears in the eyes of Councilman Schmidt. "You know, the route from Ichenhausen to the country-seat of Burgau, where our Jewish residents started out on their trade routes, still carries its old nickname, the 'Jewish Slide.' And you know, I am still waiting that one or the other of my Jewish friends may some day return on that train." ■■■■ SPITZER'S of Harvard Row All Hanuka Merchandise • Paper Goods • Signs • Gift Wrapping • Stars • Napkins • Dreidels • Menorahs Up To 40% DISCOUNT Just Off The Press Henry Kissinger's WHITE HOUSE YEARS $22.50 NOW $18 95 SPITZER'S Hebreiv Book & Gift Center 11 Mile & Wiser, Southfield Harvard Row 356-6880 Open All Day Sunday JEWISH NATIONAL FUND 27308 SOUTHFIELD SOUTHFIELD. MI 48076 Phone: 5 5 7 - 6 644 Monday thru Thursday 9 AM to 5 PM — Friday 9 AM to 4 PM — Sunday 10 AM to 1 PM rwrlirrn