The Jewish elementary school in Munich

Education plays a major role in Judaism. Even in medieval and early modern times, when much of the non-Jewish population was illiterate, skills such as reading and writing were common among members of the Jewish community, not least because they needed to be able to read religious texts and maintain contact with other, often far-distant communities. The reading of an extract from the Torah was an indispensable condition for Jewish boys wishing to be admitted as mature members of the community.

Growing numbers of schools were established in the German territories following the Reformation and the Enlightenment. Compulsory school attendance was enforced in some principalities early on, but did not become established in Bavaria until the beginning of the 19th century. Even then, the shortage of teachers and buildings meant that it was by no means universal. The so-called ‘Jew edicts’ created a legal basis in the German states for the establishment of separate Jewish schools offering general elementary tuition and religious instruction (Bavarian Edict of 1813, article 32).

Liberal Jews welcomed the fact that it was also possible to have children of different religious affiliations taught together. However, these schools were rejected by Jews for whom religious tradition was paramount (‘orthodox’ Jews). For them, the Saturday lessons customary at that time posed an insurmountable obstacle: they believed that going to school and writing during lessons flouted Sabbath laws and made it impossible to attend the synagogue services taking place at this time. They were also exposed to antisemitic harassment by classmates or teachers.

In order to prevent increasing absenteeism and avoid having to rely on the goodwill of the school authorities to grant dispensation from lessons, the Ohel Jakob Association initiated the construction of a Jewish elementary school next door to the orthodox synagogue at Herzog-Rudolf-Straße 5, Munich, in 1924. In the first year, 34 children were admitted in four classes; by the 1927/28 academic year, the number had already risen to 79. Among those involved with the school through the Ohel Jakob Synagogue Association were members of the extensive Feuchtwanger family. The curriculum complied with the regulations laid down by the school authorities, but there was also the option of additional Jewish religious instruction.

As discrimination against Jewish pupils increased, more and more of them sought refuge at the Jewish elementary school, especially since the Nazi city school inspector Josef Bauer had been deliberately taking action against Jewish pupils in Munich’s schools since the spring of 1933. The First Ordinance  Implementing the Law Against Overcrowding at German Schools and Universities promulgated on April 25, 1933 limited the percentage of Jewish pupils at secondary schools and universities to 1.5% each.

The Israelite Religious Community reacted by expanding the elementary school to eight classes and renting more classrooms. 251 pupils were taught there in 1934/35; by January 1939, the number had risen to more than 400. The November Pogrom in 1938 was a turning point in many respects. The arson attack at the synagogue had also impacted the school building; repairs were not permitted and the school accordingly had to move to the former kindergarten in Herzog-Rudolf-Straße. Three of the teachers were sent to Dachau concentration camp. On November 15, 1938, Jews were also banned from attending ‘German’ schools. At the same time, the number of pupils was declining since more and more Jewish families were emigrating in the wake of the pogrom. The deportations in November 1941 and April 1942 caused a further dwindling in pupil numbers until Jewish schools were finally banned on June 30, 1942. By April 1942, only 13 of the 400-odd pupils counted in 1939 were still in Munich. At the end of June 1942, teaching at Jewish educational establishments had to be discontinued due to the nationwide ban.