Each November, as part of Germany's annual Day of National Mourning, Jewish cemeteries in Berlin and Munich play host to remembrance services for Jewish soldiers who died for the Fatherland in World War One. Since 2011, this ceremony also takes place here in the old Jewish cemetery in Frankfurt.
Harry Schnabel, Member Board of Directors, Frankfurt Jewish Community:
"People should not that there was a time in Germany when German Jews could have patriotic feelings, just like anyone else here in this country, could join a German army even fight in a war for Germany."
Nearly one hundred thousand German Jews fought in World War One, some twelve thousand of these soldiers lost their lives in combat and 50 of them are buried here in Frankfurt's old Jewish cemetery.
Majer Szanckower, Administrator Jewish Cemetery:
"They were buried at the end of World War One."
- 1917 -- 1918?
Majer Szanckower, Administrator Jewish Cemetery:
"Yes, they died here. In this area they were in hospitals so they died here they didn't come from the front they died here in hospitals."
The guest list for the remembrance service in Frankfurt is extensive. Aside from senior members of the Jewish communities, dignitaries from city and state institutions also attend. Those present at the service are privy to a highly ritualized military ceremony, which includes an armed forces guard of honor and a ceremonial wreath laying.
What is most significant about these annual Jewish remembrance services is that they are staged for German Jewish soldiers killed in World War One, rather than for the victims of the Holocaust. When the Nazis came, thousands of Jewish war veterans were sent to concentration camps, they had survived the war only to be murdered in the Holocaust.
Harry Schnabel, Member Board of Directors, Frankfurt Jewish Community:
"This is exactly what happened and we have many examples like that, and I don't have to tell anyone, a time which is difficult to understand, a patriotic feeling that is today difficult to remember or difficult to understand, but this is something we want to keep in memory that is why we are here today."
Majer Szanckower, Administrator Jewish Cemetery:
"On this cemetery are Jewish soldiers who fought for Germany, they fought for their freedom because they thought when they showed them that they are fighting for the country they will be accepted as German Jews but the future showed it wasn't so."
During World War One, Jews comprised one per cent of the total German population of 65 million, yet they joined the armed forces at the incredible rate of 20 percent of their 550,000 population. More Jews fought and died for their country than any other ethnic group in Germany.
Wilson Ruiz, JN1, Frankfurt
