Wed. 17 Sept. 2008

Our GPS did a fine job of directing us to the Staat Archives building in Oldenburg ... except for the construction, one way streets and round abouts, but we got there with time to spare. And we finally got to meet Almut Setje-Eilers, the co-author with Ulla, who had been on a bike/hike holiday.

This is a facility where scholars go to research anything within the area. Usually you present the specific topic to a librarian and the information is brought out to you. Ulla asked for specific references about Opa before we arrived and told them who she was bringing and why.

We were shown how the information is stored and found. Nice tour. Then Ulla explained ... again ... that it is because I came back to Germany that we were allowed this privilege. She had never seen the inner workings of this facility. I was amazed because she certainly has done much research here.

We were extremely impressed when Herr Brunken showed us some very old documents; the equivalent to our Declaration of Independence, but theirs dates back to 1211 (or 1112) ... very old, a document that Napoleon signed, one from Catherine the Great and another signed by Queen Victoria. I think this is the Declaration of Independence on the left.

Then we were ushered into a room and brought a stack of files for us to browse and if it was what we were interested in, they would make copies for us. Having the room was a big help because we could discuss what we needed to talk about and the big research room is very quiet. The folder on the left is what we were looking to find, but look at all the files they gave us to check out. They went to a lot of work for us. And the day wasn't over.

It was about 2 PM when we went for a leisurely lunch at an Italian place before we went to the new synagogue. Again, an eye opener for me. Opa was a financial supporter of the former synagogue in Oldenburg before it was burned down by the Nazi's in 1938. The new one was started in 1992 by Sara Schuman. She and her family were hidden all through the war and Sara and her parents were the only survivors. Frau Schuman is my age and has been determined to bring Judiaism back to Germany. There are about 300 members there now and when Bernd asked her how many are German, she answered, "Only me. The rest are from Russia." Wow. I understand why the German Jews did not come back, but was so moved by Frau Schuman's dedication! Frau Schuman had one stipulation and that is that all members learn German because it is a German Jewish facility. The Russians have obliged willingly.

At the time we visited they did not have a Rabbi, but I see they will have one shortly. The secretary was wonderful and I'm so sorry I didn't write down her name. She gave us a grand tour of the facility.
Frau Shuman, the secretary and Lesley, the translator.