Celebrating the Exodus from Egypt Behind the Lines of World War I

Abraham Adolf Fraenkel, a doctor of mathematics, served in the German army during the Great War and organized a Passover Seder for his fellow Jewish soldiers.

During the Great War in the early 20th-century young Jewish men all across Europe joined their peers in enlisting in the military to serve their countries, with over 100,000 Jews joining the German army alone. Included in the ranks of these brave men was the Bavarian soldier Abraham Adolf Fraenkel, a doctor of mathematics, who later recounted his experiences as a Jew in World War I in his memoir, “Recollections of a Jewish Mathematician in Germany.”

In his memoirs, Fraenkel describes the difficulties he faced as a traditional Jew in the military “especially regarding food but also concerning prayer, phylacteries, not shaving and many other things.” Though he was able to maintain his kosher diet, he found himself rarely able to maintain the traditions of Shabbat.

abraham a fraenkel — “Recollections of a Jewish Mathematician in Germany,” by Abraham A. Fraenkel. Edited by Jiska Cohen-Mansfield and translated by Allison Brown. Springer International Publishing Switzerland 2016.

In 1915, Abraham found himself serving as a medical orderly for the army, which included such responsibilities as transcribing autopsy reports from dictation and assisting in minor surgeries. During his two years of service in the field hospitals, Fraenkel was also authorized by the Bavarian Ministry of Culture Affairs to serve as the Jewish chaplain to his peers in the military. While this position did not reduce the responsibilities he had in his day to day service, it did offer him a chance to stay connected to his religion and to assist others in maintaining their traditions as well.

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In 1915, Fraenkel was stationed at the military hospital in the French city of Cambrai. Fraenkel explains in his book that he was responsible for the religious affairs of the Jewish soldiers. He filled the gap between their religious needs, and the availability of the army chaplain rabbis, who were not able to always be where they were needed. Fraenkel took his position seriously, arranging for prayer services in the field and ensuring the religious soldiers could celebrate their holidays as in line with the tradition as possible.

At the end of March 1915, Fraenkel prepared to celebrate the Jewish holiday of Passover and prepared a list of the local soldiers who were interested in joining the Seder, the traditional meal where the exodus of the Jews from slavery in Egypt is recounted, which was set to take place on the 29^th and 30^th of March.

“Participants are asked to specify if they plan to attend both evening meals or just the first,” read the registration sheet. Participants were advised to request leave for religious reasons so they would be granted a permit to attend the festivities. Registrants were advised that they would only receive their leave on the day of the holiday and it was suggested that if they planned to attend the holiday prayer services, they bring their own prayer books – if they had them of course.

A total of nine soldiers registered for both of the Passover Seder including men serving as medics, logistics officers, combat engineers and one who was serving in the newly formed German air force who did not specify which Seder he planned to attend, perhaps because he knew there was a chance he would be called away at the last minute.

During the second half of World War I, Fraenkel transferred to a weather-forecasting unit, a job that better suited his outstanding talents as a mathematician. At the end of the war, Abraham Frankel returned to Marburg University, and later, went on to serve as a professor of mathematics in the city of Kiel, in northern Germany. In 1926, the mathematician visited the Land of Israel together with his family, and three years later, he moved to the country and was appointed as a professor of mathematics at The Hebrew University. In 1938, he was even chosen to be rector of the university. In Israel, he published mathematical works and devised many mathematical terms for concepts that until that time did not exist in the Hebrew language.

Fraenkel kept the list of Seder participants in 1915 with his personal belongings and preserved it for many decades. The list of Seder participant arrived at the National Library of Israel together with the rest of his personal archive.

Special thanks to Dr. Stefan Litt for his assistance in writing this article.

This post was written as part of Gesher L’Europa, the NLI’s initiative to connect with Europe and make our collections available to diverse audiences in Europe and beyond.

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Albert Ballin, the HAPAG Shipping Company, and the Immigrants to America

In 1886, a young man named Albert Ballin (1857-1918) of Jewish origins joined the company. Ballin had inherited from his father an emigration agency that operated in Hamburg. The agency helped European emigrants obtain tickets for sailing from the various European ports to America.

Stefan Litt | 26.02.17

Germany Germany the Jews and Israel World War I מלחמת העולם הראשונה

HAPAG steamship named after Ballin, 1923

In 1847 in the city of Hamburg, a new shipping company named HAPAG was founded.

One of the names the company was known by was the “Hamburg-America Line”. This name explains the objective of the company, which operated between Germany and American ports, and aimed its activity at a defined target population, the many emigrants who were en route from Europe to America. In the mid-19th century, emigration to the United States and other American countries was the solution for many people who did not manage to find their place in Europe for both financial and political reasons.

Initially, the HAPAG company operated sailboats, but over the years, it also purchased shipping vessels that were modern relative to the times: steamships. The company was moderately successful, but had to grapple with tough competition from other shipping companies from Germany, England, Belgium and Holland, all of which specialized in the emigration market. Only at a later stage did the company begin dealing in freight shipping to a significant degree.

In 1886, a young man named Albert Ballin (1857-1918) of Jewish origins joined the company. Ballin had inherited from his father an emigration agency that operated in Hamburg. The agency helped European emigrants obtain tickets for sailing from the various European ports to America. Ballin’s addition to the company was a most important move for HAPAG. From the beginning of his tenure there, Ballin was in charge of the topic of passengers. He fulfilled his role with such great success that already two years later, he was appointed to the board of directors, and from 1899, he served as CEO of the company.

Under his influence, the company ordered large, high-speed ships that offered emigrants many spaces at convenient prices, on a large number of decks. The response of the emigrants was so overwhelming that in 1900, on one of the islands in the Elbe River (which flows through Hamburg) a “city of emigrants” was established, where travelers could wait in good conditions and in a clean environment until setting sail for America. This success, joined by burgeoning success in the realm of cargo shipping, led to the company’s ongoing growth, so that on the eve of WWI, it was the largest shipping company in the world, with 175 ships and more than 20,000 employees. Competition with other companies led to orders for newer and larger ships, and on a number of occasions, the company was the largest shipping operator in the world (until other companies purchased larger ships). In 1914, HAPAG purchased three giant steamships, each of which had a capacity of 4,000 passengers. Two of them entered into regular service between Hamburg and New York, but the construction of the third was aborted, and due to the outbreak of the war, it never set sail under the company flag. The company’s slogan was “The world is our field” (Unser Feld ist die Welt). Between the years 1850-1935, some 5,000,000 people emigrated from Hamburg, and among them, many Eastern European Jews. A large number of them made the journey with HAPAG.

Albert Ballin served as CEO of the company for 19 years. Its growth during these years was thanks to his efforts, but also due to the support he received from the German political elite. The last Kaiser, Wilhelm II, was very excited by the realm of shipping, particularly large ships, which also took shape in the construction of many warships during that period.

Despite his Jewish origins, Ballin, who never converted to Christianity, was highly admired by Kaiser Wilhelm II, and became one of his unofficial Jewish advisors (together with Emil and Walter Rathenau, James Simon and others). Albert Ballin defined himself as a loyal German citizen in every way, and left a strong imprint on German politics. Evidence of this appears in the letter displayed here, written by Ballin in 1916 to an acquaintance in Vienna, Dr. Georg Halpern, one of the Zionist leaders of the period. In the letter, Ballin takes a stand on political developments in Poland an on World War I. The fact that Ballin corresponded with a Zionist leader is surprising from a number of aspects, including in light of the end met by HAPAG’s CEO, who took his own life on November 9, 1918, on the day of Kaiser Wilhelm II’s abdication. The collapse of the Reich, together with the defeat of Germany in the war, broke Albert Ballin and caused a demoralizing crisis in his system of values. The suicide spared him from witnessing the dismantling of the company’s fleet, when Germany was forced to pay reparations to the Allies. And yet, the company continued to exist, and rehabilitated itself in the days of the Weimar Republic. After the end of WWII, almost all of its ships were again confiscated, but the HAPAG company gain rebounded, and it continues to be in operation to this day.

Albert Ballin letter to Dr. Georg Halpern in Vienna, 1916

The First Person to Photograph the Land of Israel from the Air

Fritz Groll was a German officer sent to Ottoman Palestine at the height of World War I in order to assist Ottoman forces. Along the way, he photographed the country’s landscapes, cities and sites, from the ground and the air

Amit Naor | 26.02.17

Germany Germany the Jews and Israel History of Israel Land of Israel Photographs World War I מלחמת העולם הראשונה

Aerial view of Jaffa. From the Fritz Groll photo album, the National Library of Israel collections

By 1916, things were looking rather bleak for Ottoman forces in the Middle East. They were finding it difficult to repel the multi-pronged attack by the British. The Great Arab Revolt began in the summer, led by Emirs Abdullah and Faisal, with the support of Great Britain which had sent Lawrence of Arabia to the region. Even before the outbreak of World War I, the Ottoman Empire had become known as “the sick man of Europe.” At this point, after two years of fighting, the sick man was on his deathbed.

The Ottoman Empire’s German allies could no longer remain on the sidelines. They needed the Turks to engage the British in order to distract them from the critical battles on the Western Front. Indeed, following pressure from senior military officials, in the spring-summer of 1916, German units were finally dispatched to the Middle East to fight alongside the crumbling Ottoman army.

German soldiers with planes in the background. From the Fritz Groll photo album, the National Library of Israel collections

These units, which included an air squadron, arrived in preparation of the final Turkish-German offensive against British forces in Sinai. The German army excelled in the use of aircraft, at the time a new and not so reliable means of transportation, which was being used in war for the very first time. Accompanying the squadron was Fritz Groll, a 40-year-old German officer who was also the commander of a new unit dedicated to aerial photography. This was Groll’s first visit to Ottoman Palestine – the Land of Israel.

Fritz Groll. From the Fritz Groll photo album, the National Library of Israel collections

Groll’s main mission was to photograph the area from the air for military purposes. This was how the first military aerial photographs of the Land of Israel came into being. Groll photographed Jaffa, the Galilee and areas in the Sinai Desert from the air for the first time. One can even make out agricultural fields and railway tracks in the photographs.

The region of Ashkelon. From the Fritz Groll photo album, the National Library of Israel collections

Aerial view of Caesarea. From the Fritz Groll photo album, the National Library of Israel collections

Aerial view of the ancient city of Shivta (Subeita). From the Fritz Groll photo album, the National Library of Israel collections

Aerial view of Be’er Sheva. From the Fritz Groll photo album, the National Library of Israel collections

Aerial view of the Sarona Templar settlement. From the Fritz Groll photo album, the National Library of Israel collections

But Groll, along with his comrades in the squadron and other German units, did not treat the Land of Israel merely as a military destination. Like any avid tourist—or pilgrim—Groll documented his journey from Europe’s shores through Turkey, Syria and Lebanon, to the Land of Israel. He photographed the Bosphorus, documented the streets of Damascus, his various travels and the people he met along the way, as well as his comrades in arms. The German soldiers’ uniforms hint somewhat to the military’s colonialist attitude toward the Holy Land and the Middle East (note the pith helmets). On the other hand, Groll filled the pages of his album featuring photographs of the Temple Mount and other holy sites in Jerusalem with dense, hand-written and enthusiastic descriptions. Despite the outdated photographic equipment, it seems that Groll documented non-stop: Haifa and Jaffa, Be’er Sheva, where the forces were stationed, and even two pages of photographs of the town of Ramla.

Squadron members at attention. From the Fritz Groll photo album, the National Library of Israel collections

Istanbul. From the Fritz Groll photo album, the National Library of Israel collections

Locals in Syria. From the Fritz Groll photo album, the National Library of Israel collections

An “Arab begger”. From the Fritz Groll photo album, the National Library of Israel collections

Bedouin women in Be’er Sheva. From the Fritz Groll photo album, the National Library of Israel collections

Photograph of Ramla. From the Fritz Groll photo album, the National Library of Israel collections

A page from the album documenting the Temple Mount and other holy sites in Jerusalem. Groll added hand-written descriptions in German. From the Fritz Groll photo album, the National Library of Israel collections

It is worth taking a closer look at this magnificent album, which was donated to the National Library of Israel by Ms. Ruth Schell of London, through Prof. Benjamin Zeev Kedar, who researched Groll’s photographs. The dozens of pictures afford an authentic view of the Land of Israel of that time, at the end of 400 years of Ottoman rule. The complete album is available for viewing, here.

Thank you to Dr. Gil Weissblei for his help in preparing this article.

Weimar Republic

Despite all of the difficulties faced by young democratic Germany, its parliamentary method was quite well-developed

Stefan Litt | 24.02.17

Germany the Jews and Israel Weimar Republic רפובליקת ויימר

Between the end of World War I in 1918 and the Nazi rise to power in 1933, Germany was a democratic republic. This attempt at democracy, however, endured for only 14 years, ultimately failing due to tremendous political, social and economic strains.

In gatherings of the National Assembly, held at the National Theater in the city of Weimar at the beginning of 1919, delegates formulated a modern democratic constitution, which provided the foundation for German society after hundreds of years under monarchic rule. This constitution is considered progressive to this day, although a significant discrepancy remained between the good intentions of most of the delegates and their implementation during the short life of the republic, a gap that ultimately led to the failure of the first democracy on German soil.

Although political power was seized from the elite following the revolution that took place at the end of 1918, most of the state functionaries remained in office even after the political change, and in most cases, these individuals did not support the democratic government.

Despite all of the difficulties faced by young democratic Germany, its parliamentary method was quite well-developed. Many parties competed for votes and for the first time in German history, women were granted suffrage in 1919.

The range of parties was quite wide, including streams and ideologies from the left (the Communist Party) to the center (Social-Democrats, Liberals, Christians) and the far right (the German Nationalist Party, and later, the National Socialist Party). The electoral threshold remained very low, which increased the number of parties in the national parliament and made coalition agreements very difficult throughout the Weimar Republic’s 14 years.

The beginning of this political entity was also complex. Difficulties abounded. Defeat in the world war resulted in subsequent debts and enormous reparation payments to the Allied powers, a high number of casualties, a high rate of unemployment, a general sense of disorientation, and hyper-inflation so out of control that in December 1923 a loaf of bread cost billions of marks. Beginning in 1924, the overall situation began to improve, and the period until 1929 became known as the Golden Age. With the global financial crisis that began in 1929, and its particularly detrimental effect on Germany, the ranks of the unemployed rose to unprecedented rates (in 1932, there were some five and a half million unemployed Germans!). As a result, the political system became unstable. This state of affairs made it possible for the Nazi party to garner strength and quickly gain hold of public support.

At the same time, the period of the Weimar Republic is considered one of the most dynamic in the history of Germany with technological and scientific advances including the research of Albert Einstein, Max Planck and Gustav Herz in Berlin, radio broadcasts reaching a broad audience, German zeppelins crossing the Atlantic Ocean, sound films conquering the cinemas, and many other notable achievements.

Fourteen German scientists won Nobel prizes between 1919 and 1933. In design and art, innovations appeared in the famous Bauhaus school, while modern German literature reached many readers and popular music was influenced by America, as can be seen, for example, in the success of the Comedian Harmonists ensemble (comprised of three Jews and three Christians), which conquered the concert halls of Germany and Europe at that time.

Countless German Jews were leaders in a variety of fields, including Rosa Luxemburg and Leo Jogiches, two of the founders of the German Communist Party, as well as Walther Rathenau, the Director of the Board of AEG and German Foreign Minister of 1922 (all three of whom were murdered by right-wing extremists); conductor and composer Otto Klemperer; actors Alexander Granach and Kurt Gerron; authors Else Lasker-Schüler, Lion Feuchtwanger and Jakob Wasserman; director Max Reinhardt; scientists Albert Einstein, James Franck and Gustav Hertz; philosophers Ernst Cassirer, Leo Strauss and Ernst Bloch; architect Erich Mendelsohn; and many others.