I too am the city

Renate Aris

The synagogue is located just a few minutes from the centre of Chemnitz at the foot of the Kapellenberg. A modern building made of glass and concrete, it would be a real eye-catcher if it were not located in the traffic-calmed Stollberger Straße. Renate Aris knows the building inside out. For once, the 79-year-old is not booked for one of the many guided tours today.

What are your tasks in the Jewish community?
Renate Aris: I am a pensioner and everything I do is on a voluntary basis. My main activities consist mainly of giving guided tours of the synagogue and the community centre and giving talks. Above all, and this is the good thing, for schools. But also for other sections of the population. From Chemnitz and the surrounding area. I have also been offering courses on Jewish topics at the adult education centre for twelve years.

And what do you tell?
There's a lot to tell! About the synagogue, the religion, the history of the community, but also about National Socialism and the persecution of the Jews. There are huge gaps in knowledge, even among adults. It has to be said that the Jewish community did not make an appearance until the fall of communism, until the synagogue was built. The community became smaller and smaller and the biological exit was pre-programmed. I joined the twelve members in 1988. We were 13! This change to a congregation with over 600 members was only possible thanks to the influx of Jewish citizens from the former Soviet Union. That is also worth telling. Today, 99 per cent of our members are immigrants.

Over 140 years ago, Jewish merchants from Berlin and other parts of the Kingdom of Prussia decided to relocate to Chemnitz. Despite internal disputes and differences of opinion with the state authorities in Dresden, they founded the "Israelitische Religionsgemeinde zu Chemnitz" on 19 November 1885 in the "Reichold" hotel - not far from the main railway station. The Jewish community grew steadily and by 1911 there were 1,800 Jews living in the Chemnitz district. From 1 April 1933, the boycott of Jewish shops, companies and doctors' surgeries began after the National Socialist seizure of power. The darkest chapter in German history began with the November pogroms of 1938, when Jewish places of worship were burned throughout Germany. In the years that followed, Jews were persecuted, expelled and murdered, including in Chemnitz. Between 1942 and 1945, almost all of the citizens still living in Chemnitz were deported to extermination camps in the East or to Theresienstadt. Only a few returned to Chemnitz shortly after the end of the war on 8 May 1945 - around 60 people by 1946. Today, the Chemnitz community with around 600 members is one of the most active Jewish communities in the new federal states. In addition to Shabbat services, all holidays during the Jewish year are celebrated. Associations, a community choir and a dance group have formed under the umbrella of the community, enriching the cultural life of the city.

Why did you come to Chemnitz back then?
I was already working here at the time. I had been working in the television studio in Siegmar since 1969. I was born in Dresden, where I survived the Holocaust. I later lived in Dresden in the Weißer Hirsch neighbourhood. It was the most beautiful neighbourhood you could imagine. When I looked out of the window, I had the entire panorama of Dresden in front of me. I knew the centre of Karl-Marx-Stadt. Back then, you could see from the terrace of the Chemnitzer Hof to the town hall door. I sat there on the terrace of the Chemnitzer Hof and thought: Never to this city! Over your dead body. I've lived here for over four decades now. It was only after my father's death that I joined the community in 1988. And I particularly experienced the rebuilding after reunification. The reorganisation, the transformation, with all the problems that exist, is enormous. If you stand in front of the town hall today, nobody remembers the large car park. And that's exactly where everyone dives into the business life of the Galerie Roter Turm today. Nobody remembers what it looked like 15 or 20 years ago. Even I feel the same way.

How did you get involved in the community back then?
I was a member of the executive committee of the State Board of Jews in Saxony for twelve years, and my brother has been its chairman for years. I was a member of the leadership here in the community for 15 years, deputising for the long-standing chairman Sigmund Rotstein, chairwoman of the then 15-member community council for two years and chairwoman of the audit committee for two years. In 1999, I founded the Jewish Women's Association of the community, which I still head today. I saw it as my most important task to familiarise the people who came to us with the history of the Jews and the Saxons. To walk in Jewish footsteps, so to speak. We visited many Jewish communities in Saxony and Saxony-Anhalt. Lectures on religion, local politics and happy get-togethers were not neglected.

What did you show the members of the community when they first came to Chemnitz?
I started with city walks. So that they could get to know the neighbourhood and the city. Or a visit to Chemnitz town hall with the tower keeper, who is a very dedicated man and knows how to familiarise newly arrived people with the city of Chemnitz.

What topics play a role in your lectures today?
The theme of my lectures is: Lived and survived the Holocaust. A biography. Because we are the last. Soon there will be no one left to talk about it. The worst era of the 20th century is already history. And there are always people who falsify history according to their own convictions. There are people today who want to tell us our biographies. I have also given this lecture in other cities in the surrounding area and in other federal states.

How important are the Days of Jewish Culture for Jewish life in the city?
The Days of Jewish Culture have now become a fortnight. They took place for the 24th time this year, with over 70 events and an ever-increasing response. The opening events are particularly popular, attended by hundreds of people and to my delight, which is not so often the case, also by many young people. The days have been opened several times in the art collections, this year in the State Museum of Archaeology. International artists contributed to the programme. Examples of the programme include exhibition openings, readings, concerts, lectures, public services and more, as well as guided tours of the listed Jewish cemetery and city tours in Jewish footsteps by historian Dr Jürgen Nitsche. They show the variety of events organised during the Days of Jewish Culture. All topics that give the population access to Jewish life. Our former community was in an inconspicuous residential building. So it was no wonder that the people of Chemnitz did not recognise the small Jewish community for a long time. That has changed today.

Do you feel safe as a Jew in Chemnitz?
We can feel happy in Chemnitz. We are very grateful to the city. The mayor is always ready to listen. Of course, they can't solve everything, but we are listened to. We feel safe as a Jewish community in this city. And I think that's important.

Is there anything that makes you particularly proud?
The community centre and the synagogue are a particular source of pride. For our former chairman Sigmund Rotstein, who survived the concentration camp at a young age, it was a utopian thought, as it was for my father in Dresden: one day there will be a new synagogue. We will have several hundred members again. That was utopia. After reunification, the communities grew by leaps and bounds. The synagogue in Dresden was already under construction. The mayor at the time, Dr Peter Seifert, immediately took up our idea.

The first synagogue in Chemnitz was consecrated on 7 March 1899 by Chemnitz architect Wenzel Bürger on Stephanplatz. The sacred building with its red brick walls and green copper roofs, which was soon considered an "ornament of Kaßberg", offered space for over 700 people. The building was set on fire during the November pogroms on 9 November 1939 and completely destroyed. After the war, a new community centre was consecrated in 1961 on the edge of the Kapellenberg. When reunified Germany became the new home for many Jews from the successor states of the former Soviet Union with the fall of communism in 1989/90, new Jewish life moved into Chemnitz. The new synagogue in Stollberger Straße was inaugurated in May 2002.

What do you think of the realised building today?
It is an unusual building in a residential area. This building was there before the modern buildings in the city and has a great charisma. We can be proud of it. On the day of the first public tours, over 4,000 people came to see the community centre and the synagogue. There was not enough space for the first public service. The popularity and interest in the synagogue and the Jewish community continue unabated. We are happy to welcome anyone who comes and wants to find out more with an honest heart.

How do you co-operate with other religious communities in Chemnitz?
We have the very best connections with Superintendent Conzendorf and Pastor Brenner, who organises the interfaith trip every year. We have excellent contacts and cooperation with Pastor Lücke, who is also the director of the Evangelical Forum and chairwoman of the German-Israeli Society, of which I am treasurer. There is close co-operation in the preparation of the Days of Jewish Culture. Cooperation with Muslims is still rare. The contacts we have are about learning something about the other. Above all, it's about respect for other religions. I always tell the children: you have people in front of you. No matter what they look like or where they come from, they are human beings. Despite all the problems we may have with each other, it is important to respect people.

What do the members of the Jewish community value about life in the city of Chemnitz?
It would be best if you asked them yourself. The Jewish people who have come here and now live here want to lead a normal life, practise their religion and have good living and housing conditions. They are not fellow citizens, but citizens of this city, people like everyone else. Many have German friends and have settled in well. The people have been given a good start by the state, the city and the Central Council of Jews. They have to contribute to further integration themselves.

What is your image of Chemnitz?
I know the slogan "I am the city". But I say: "I am the city too." For me, it's the people who make up the city. I can get involved here, help people with my knowledge and want to work with others to achieve something good for the city and its people.

What could Chemnitz do better?
In my opinion, the peripheral areas are neglected. The ruins, old houses, for example on Zwickauer Straße. And also the maintenance of green spaces. I am annoyed by unkempt bus stops and green spaces. I live in Schönau and we have very poor shopping conditions there.

Do you have to encourage the people of Chemnitz?
With everything that strikes me, the people of Chemnitz should be a little more proud of what they have created. Instead of demolishing, smearing or complaining. My opinion is: it's time to get involved. I live here, I live here, I enjoy, for example, what the wonderful cultural institutions have to offer, whether art collections or theatres. And the thesis remains: I, too, am the city.