The project aims
The project aims to make the traces of the Jewish community in Fulda visible.
With the help of the former Jewish residents of Fulda who are scattered all over the world, and their second and third generation family members, this website is intended personalize the stories of those who have fled from Fulda to safe refuge, the deportees from Fulda and neighboring countries and those who had been murdered.
Ethan Bensinger has been supporting the project “Fulda – Auschwitz” since the screening of his film “Refuge – Stories of the Selfhelp Home” (watch the film with German subtitels) at the Bardoschule Fulda and started to send private photos and documents. The biography of his mother is the first family history on this website and was created with the assistance of one of the students from the Bardoschule.
After an intensive search for Jewish families from Fulda, many other former residents and their descendants have since then also shared their information which will be gradually published on this website.
Documents and photos are supplemented by material from numerous archives in Germany and abroad.
The traces of the former Jewish Fulda
The old Jewish cemetery Fulda (approx 1920); image source Stadtarchiv Fulda
The old Jewish cemetery
The old Jewish cemetery at today’s Jerusalemplatz is no longer recognizable as such. On 9.11.2017, a presentation by the Bardoschule project group will take place, which in addition to presenting information on the destroyed cemetery, will also provide a visual impression of the historical place by means of greatly enlarged photographs. In addition, stones with names of Jewish residents of Fulda buried there will be placed by the students in an area of the former cemetery. In the future, a permanent exhibition at the site of the old Jewish cemetery is planned in collaboration with the city of Fulda.
Deportation from the Fulda railway station
Before the three deportations left from Fulda, Jewish families, including children and the elderly, were forced to spend the night in the gym in Rabanusstraße. The next day they were marched to the Fulda railway station and had to board trains first to Kassel and then onwords to Riga, Theresienstadt and Sobibor. Neither at the place of assembly nor at the railway station will you find information about these tragic events.
Deportation from Fulda to Kassel on 8.12.1941 and from there to Riga; image source Stadtarchiv Fulda, BA-15808
Jewish synagogue
Today on the square of the synagogue destroyed during the Pogromnacht/Kristallnacht, there is a commercial building and a parking lot. A memorial plaque was placed there and other smaller plaques with the names of all deportees from Fulda. How can this place be made more respectful?
Your support is welcome
The Jews of Fulda lived in houses and flats, went to school and to work. Where were these places and how do they look today? With an interactive map, these traces of Jewish Fulda will be made available on this website.
The project is dependent on the assistance not only of the former Jewish families, but also of the residents of Fulda living there today.
All those who wish to support the project can contact the project manager Anja Listmann via the contact form.