Holocaust memories Traces of the Pogrom in Bad Godesberg
Bad Godsberg · A historical tour leads through a darker chapter of Bad Godesberg’s history. One participant in the tour was a witness.
It’s a warm summer’s evening. The smell of pizza from a local restaurant drifts through the air of the small Oststraße. A group of mainly older residents look here into the heart of old Godesberg up at an unremarkable looking wall. It was where there used to be an entrance to the local synagogue.
“And there a fire broke out on November 11, 1938 at around 1 p.m. during broad daylight. Reason unknown. At least that’s what it says in the fire report,” says Beke Ritgen. She is the historian for the Memorial of Bonn Victims of Nazism and she led a two-hour tour for the Volkshochschule (Community education) through the surrounding streets, following in the footsteps of Bad Godesberg Jews.
The Nazis didn’t have time to set fire to the synagogue on Pogrom night. It would be done later when SA soldiers (‘Stormtroopers’) came in from outside of town. “And then the roof came down at midday. The perpetrators had fueled the flames with fire accelerants”, explains Ritgen. There was no concern about the flames spreading to other homes in the compact neighborhood because the fire department stood ready - only to protect the neighboring homes. Ritgen explains, “Everything was well-prepared.”
And where were the non-Jewish citizens? “They were not allowed to come close. They were not allowed to help the Jews. It was all sealed off by men in uniform,” chimed in an older gentleman in the group. Werner Hagen turned out to be a witness. He was a child and staying with his uncle at the time, who was a painter. He explained to GA, “I keep coming back to this place, I cannot help it.” His grandmother had taken him in a stroller on this black November day past the burned-out synagogue. “Only smoke was coming out. Terrible.”
His grandmother told him later that they had seen a young woman crying on the steps of the synagogue. “I will never forget,” said Hagen. And even today he has tears in his eyes. The young woman was then picked up and taken away. “From strapping SA soldiers. These are family memories that remain,” says Hagen as he swallows.
Even the clearing of the rubble had to be paid by the 112 Jews of the Godesberg community and a kind of penance paid before almost all were murdered - only a few survived by escaping. “Unbelievable,” mutters a participant. Much more should be done to talk about how the holocaust began in this area. The tour serves exactly this purpose, and immediately, parallels are drawn to current racist violence against refugees.
Meanwhile, more memories awakened in Werner Hagen. Just a stone’s throw from Oststraße, he saw Hitler driving by Aennchen in Bad Godesberg. “A number of Godesberger, Hitler Youth and other fanatics cheered him on.” His grandmother said, “Look son, these are the people that are hunting the Jews.” (Orig. text: Ebba Hagenberg-Miliu)
