Photos
The Burgermeister and Heidi Roessing #07
Niederaula # 013, 05
Synagogue 190-?
Niederaula # 08
The Burgermeister and Heidi Roessing #07
Niederaula # 013, 05
Synagogue 190-?
Niederaula # 08
On Sunday morning I went down for my last breakfast at the buffet and started packing. I phoned Lilli to thank her for everything and checked out of the hotel. The City had taken care of all of my and Suzanne’s expenses during the program and the day before. Then I took a taxi to the airport where we got mixed up with the Dresden Marathon. We drove beside some of the 7,500 runners who did not seem to mind the very cold wet weather. Lufthansa #1057 left on time and arrived at Frankfurt on time. I picked up a rental car soon after 3 o’clock and headed for Wurtzberg; from there it went from bad to worse! First I got lost, then I waited over half-an-hour in a huge traffic jam so decided that I did not want to continue driving in the rain and took the first exit for Frankfurt airport and easily found my way to the Steigenberger Airport Hotel, where I had stayed on my first night in Germany just 10 days ago. I checked in and again had dinner in their regional German restaurant “Unterschweinstiege”. Dinner was delicious; I had Weiner Schnitzel and a beer and talked to the Australians at the next table that had come to Germany to watch the world rugby finals.
Monday started out much better; after breakfast it was cold and sunny so I decided to go look for my Great-grandfather Joel Nussbaum. I know that he was born in Niederaula and later had the only Kosher butcher shop in Hersfeld at 26 Kraus Strasse, which Lysa and I visited about 15 years ago. My Mother used to tell me that, when she “got fed up with her parents, she would go back to her Grandparent’s house in Hersfeld”. My cousin Helmut told me that he well remembered “staying with his Uncle Joel and Aunt Betty and on Friday afternoon before Shabbat, Betty would make a Challah and hand it over the fence to the baker next door, who had an oven big enough. The baker then called over when the Challah was ready. Joel and Betty lived over the store and had a “Shabos Goy”, who looked after the store on Shabbat.
I figured out directions to Hersfeld and set off. First I got lost in downtown Frankfurt (don’t ask) and eventually found the Autobahn and then it was clear sailing. Before reaching Hersfeld I saw a sign for Niederaula (pro. Needer-owl-a) where Great-grandfather Joel Nussbaum was born. It is a very pretty small farm town set in rolling hills and forests. I saw the Rathaus (City Hall or in this case Town Hall) and walked up to the Burgermeister’s office where I told the secretary that my Great-grandfather was born here and I was looking for his birth certificate or anything else. She told me that they had lots of information. The Burgermeister came out of his office and suggested that the secretary call someone else. I had my laptop with me and we moved into a conference room with a speakerphone. I told them that I had just left Dresden as an invited former resident and everybody was fascinated with my story. The Burgermeister and the secretary brought out an armload of books and papers and loose leaf binders. They were well informed on the Jewish community that thrived in the village in the seventeen and eighteen hundreds. I was shown a lovely picture of the old synagogue, school and guesthouse and given a copy. The Burgermeister also presented me with a copy of a beautiful, recently published book on the history of the town “1225 Jahre Niederaula” (1225 years in Niederaula) We talked on the speakerphone with Frau Heidi Roessing, who had written the book’s chapter on the Jews of Niederaula. She asked me to come to her house where she had all sorts of records including data on my Great-grandfather, his parents, siblings, etc. These people could not have been nicer! I followed the Burgermeister’s car and the first stop was to show me a small monument recently erected indicating the site of the former synagogue and memorializing the Jews of the town. Then it was to the Burgermeister’s house, where another local historian wanted to show me pictures of former Jewish residents from all over the world, that she was in touch with and some of who had been back to visit. The Frau Burgermeister was very kind and offered coffee. I then followed the Burgermeister to Heidi Roessing’s house, high on a hillside overlooking the countryside. We spent more than an hour poring over records that she had of many member of the Nussbaum family. She had day, month and year of birth, death and marriage for many and asked me to send her what details that I had of their descendants.
Niederaula had a strong Jewish community, which at end of the 1800’s numbered 27 families with 50 students, Jews and non-Jews, in the Jewish School. I asked the Burgermeister how come there is so much interest in the history of the Jews and he said, “They were an important part of our history. There were Jews named on the monuments to the soldiers that died in the First World War and Jewish schools educated Jews and non-Jews”
I took a few pictures of the town, and then took off for Hersfeld. Unfortunately some sort of festival was taking place and most of the streets to the old town were closed, so after looking at the map I decided to continue and around 4 o’clock I had had enough and drove into Eisenach. It’s a lovely medieval town where Martin Luther lived for a while and Johannes Sebastian Bach was born. I inquired at the tourist office and checked into Schlosshotel (Castle hotel) Eisenach, a lovely old building across from the church and close to the town square. It was reasonably priced, very comfortable and had free Internet access! Later I walked around the delightful little town, had a marvelous dinner in the hotel dining room in the cellar and worked on my notes.
Monday started out much better; after breakfast it was cold and sunny so I decided to go look for my Great-grandfather Joel Nussbaum. I know that he was born in Niederaula and later had the only Kosher butcher shop in Hersfeld at 26 Kraus Strasse, which Lysa and I visited about 15 years ago. My Mother used to tell me that, when she “got fed up with her parents, she would go back to her Grandparent’s house in Hersfeld”. My cousin Helmut told me that he well remembered “staying with his Uncle Joel and Aunt Betty and on Friday afternoon before Shabbat, Betty would make a Challah and hand it over the fence to the baker next door, who had an oven big enough. The baker then called over when the Challah was ready. Joel and Betty lived over the store and had a “Shabos Goy”, who looked after the store on Shabbat.
I figured out directions to Hersfeld and set off. First I got lost in downtown Frankfurt (don’t ask) and eventually found the Autobahn and then it was clear sailing. Before reaching Hersfeld I saw a sign for Niederaula (pro. Needer-owl-a) where Great-grandfather Joel Nussbaum was born. It is a very pretty small farm town set in rolling hills and forests. I saw the Rathaus (City Hall or in this case Town Hall) and walked up to the Burgermeister’s office where I told the secretary that my Great-grandfather was born here and I was looking for his birth certificate or anything else. She told me that they had lots of information. The Burgermeister came out of his office and suggested that the secretary call someone else. I had my laptop with me and we moved into a conference room with a speakerphone. I told them that I had just left Dresden as an invited former resident and everybody was fascinated with my story. The Burgermeister and the secretary brought out an armload of books and papers and loose leaf binders. They were well informed on the Jewish community that thrived in the village in the seventeen and eighteen hundreds. I was shown a lovely picture of the old synagogue, school and guesthouse and given a copy. The Burgermeister also presented me with a copy of a beautiful, recently published book on the history of the town “1225 Jahre Niederaula” (1225 years in Niederaula) We talked on the speakerphone with Frau Heidi Roessing, who had written the book’s chapter on the Jews of Niederaula. She asked me to come to her house where she had all sorts of records including data on my Great-grandfather, his parents, siblings, etc. These people could not have been nicer! I followed the Burgermeister’s car and the first stop was to show me a small monument recently erected indicating the site of the former synagogue and memorializing the Jews of the town. Then it was to the Burgermeister’s house, where another local historian wanted to show me pictures of former Jewish residents from all over the world, that she was in touch with and some of who had been back to visit. The Frau Burgermeister was very kind and offered coffee. I then followed the Burgermeister to Heidi Roessing’s house, high on a hillside overlooking the countryside. We spent more than an hour poring over records that she had of many member of the Nussbaum family. She had day, month and year of birth, death and marriage for many and asked me to send her what details that I had of their descendants.
Niederaula had a strong Jewish community, which at end of the 1800’s numbered 27 families with 50 students, Jews and non-Jews, in the Jewish School. I asked the Burgermeister how come there is so much interest in the history of the Jews and he said, “They were an important part of our history. There were Jews named on the monuments to the soldiers that died in the First World War and Jewish schools educated Jews and non-Jews”
I took a few pictures of the town, and then took off for Hersfeld. Unfortunately some sort of festival was taking place and most of the streets to the old town were closed, so after looking at the map I decided to continue and around 4 o’clock I had had enough and drove into Eisenach. It’s a lovely medieval town where Martin Luther lived for a while and Johannes Sebastian Bach was born. I inquired at the tourist office and checked into Schlosshotel (Castle hotel) Eisenach, a lovely old building across from the church and close to the town square. It was reasonably priced, very comfortable and had free Internet access! Later I walked around the delightful little town, had a marvelous dinner in the hotel dining room in the cellar and worked on my notes.
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