Worms Jewish Community Collection

This collection contains a original documents dating back to the 19th century, clippings and articles, correspondence, programs, pamphlets, photographs and pieces of writing relating to the Jewish community and synagogue of Worms..

Folder one consists of original and photocopied newspaper and magazine clippings related to the synagogue and Jewish community of Worms. Folder two contains correspondence from the board and members of the Jewish community in Worms, a blank invitation to the 1959 cornerstone laying ceremony for the rebuilding of the synagogue, a letter regarding the use of the synagogue during Nazi occupation, and a letter between Karl Guggenheim and Richard Wisser regarding the Worms Jewish Archives. There are also several letters between Carola Kaufmann and two correspondents, Isidor Kiefer and Marie Levy, regarding the restoration and reconstruction of the old synagogue in Worms. In addition, there is correspondence between Kaufmann and Luise Rasor regarding family records accompanied by an original deed from 1887. In folder three are directories of Jewish residents in Worms, lists of Jewish community members and their fates, a photocopied police register listing the names and previous addresses of those moved to Theresienstadt, photocopies of emigration records and narrative accounts, a handwritten namelist of communal records for the years 1739-1748, and a list noting religious ceremonies performed by non-authorized persons. Also included is an original 1870 colored map of the Jewish ghetto, Leopold Levy's real estate contract and building permit from 1870, a typewritten copy of a deed of gift for the Worms synagogue, an admission ticket to the inauguration ceremony of the synagogue from 1875, a call for fundraising with a list of donor names and amounts given, as well as copies of plans and blueprints for the synagogue.

Folder four contains images of the synagogue and synagogue grounds in the forms of blank postcards, original and photocopied photographs, and photographic negatives. This includes a 1914 set of photographs with the text, Die Synagoge in Worms mit ihren Altertuemern. Also included are original and photocopied photographs of congregation members, the Jewish cemetery of Worms, the gravestones of Rabbi Meir von Rothenburg and Alexander ben Salomo, memorial plaques, as well as photographs of displays from an exhibition regarding the history of the Jewish community in Worms. Folder five is comprised of programs for the 900 anniversary of the synagogue of Worms, informational booklets regarding the Worms synagogue, cemetery, and Jewish community, as well as a presentation booklet for The Jews of Worms given by Benas Levy in 1914 at the Verein fuer Juedische Geschichte und Literatur. Also included is a catalog of the Museum of the City of Worms' 1973 exhibition commemorating the burning of books under the Nazi regime. Folder six consists of reports regarding the reconstruction of the Jewish community in Worms, descriptions of the Worms synagogue, photocopied excerpts from Festschrift 150 Jahre Wormser Zeitung 1926 and other published works related to the Jewish community of Worms. Also included are essays by Otto Böcher, Karl Guggenheim, Max Levy, and Kurt Kauffmann, as well as the poem Kannst Du's ertragen? by Rabbi Meir.