1937 Jewish Community Of Berlin Plaquette

Friends;

I bought a lot of Judaica lately from an old estate and found a piece I just can't sell so I am donating it to the Israel Museum. (Hendin's Idea to give him the credit...)

In 1937 the Jews in Berlin had been under Hitler for a while as you know. The Laws were all changed and very shortly all the stores and temples were looted and burned by 1938. So those who could leave or wanted to leave probably had hopefully.

This piece is about 100 mm and made of zinc. And it is such an important thing to see as it is just a Jewish community doing a very normal thing they have to do to be Jewish, remembering the dead on important anniversaries. So this is the 100th anniversary of a very important Rabbi's death.

I know we all say never forget, and we often do with Rwanda or how long Isis was allowed to do what they did etc. But this piece was amazing because even when it was clear the most horrible things were happening these people did not forget what it meant to be Jewish.

I study history as you can guess and Herod's grandson Agrippa did great for himself when the temple came down around 70 AD. And I often think what would have been the harm of assimilating a bit more and letting Caligula for example put up a statue in the temple when he wanted to, you people fought a crazy war against Rome you know you would never win.

But maybe had they taken some different paths like that they would be completely assimilated like Phoenicians and lost. And maybe this plaquette is the same spirit shown in a hopeless situation.

Just wanted to share this. Know it is not an ancient coin but you get what you get when you buy estates to sell.




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