Enormously impactful: This describes best the contributions of Jews in Central Germany in the past: Among them were modern department stores with innovative service, groundbreaking inventions, benchmark-setting social commitment, a progressive, citizen-oriented state constitution as well as a significant share of industrialization and economic growth – not to ignore the important contributions to architecture, visual arts, literature and music.
But the more successful and assimilated Jews in Central Germany became, the stronger the envy and hatred of the anti-Semites grew. Their "reform associations" vociferously demanded that the legal equality of the Jewish minority be completely annulled. Initially, demagoguery and inhuman race delusion were only occasionally successful. But the Nazi regime elevated Jew-hatred to state doctrine, which culminated in the Shoah. Central Germany played an infamous pioneering role in this field.
After 1945, the survivors built up a new existence, especially in Israel and the USA. Very few of them remained in East Germany. Their numbers have declined even further over the years and only slightly after German Reunification – thanks to Jews from former Soviet Union.
The book fills a gap between local research and the history of the German Jews.
