The Bornplatz memorial, exhibitions about Hamburg's Jewish city history, and the Senate's visitor program for Jewish former citizens – these topics were already discussed in the 1980s and 1990s. At that time, the associations of former Hamburg residents in Israel, whose members and protagonists had fled Nazi persecution in the 1930s, made their voices heard. Over the years, their associations became committed communities of remembrance that organized get-togethers in Israel and, additionally, looked to Hamburg with great interest. They worked across borders, creating spaces for (re)rapprochement between the Federal Republic of Germany and Israel.
With her study on Jewish former Hamburg residents, Jana Matthies presents the first individual study on a German-speaking former residents’ association in Israel. It was made possible thanks to financial support from the Carlebach Fund of the City of Hamburg at the IGdJ, the Kurt and Hildegard Löwenstein/Losten Foundation, and the Galewski Foundation.
The book is published by Hentrich & Hentrich.