Lübbecke

Max Lazarus

Max Lazarus was a teacher and cantor for the Jewish community. He moved to Lübbecke with his wife Julie in 1892, and their two children, Lothar and Ilse, were born there. The family lived in Lübbecke for nearly 48 years. In March 1939, they managed to emigrate to Israel. There, Max Lazarus wrote his memoirs of the years 1892–1919 in Lübbecke. Descendants of Max and Julie Lazarus still live in Israel today and maintain contact with Lübbecke.

Max Lazarus was highly respected and esteemed in Lübbecke. He was involved in Lübbecke’s social and cultural life in many ways. His Jewish community extended far beyond the city limits. In addition to his work as a teacher and cantor, he also taught non-Jewish children, gave private lessons, and worked at the vocational school for more than 20 years. In the 1920s, he directed the Gehlenbeck Folk Choir. He wrote poems, plays, educational essays, and songs. Thanks to his writings, we know a great deal about life in Lübbecke and within his Jewish community. Despite his high standing in Lübbecke, he and his family were subjected to anti-Jewish reprisals during the Nazi era. Ultimately, they managed to leave the country before the war broke out.

Dr. Ariel Lazarus is the great-grandson of Lübbecke’s last Jewish cantor and an internationally recognized, award-winning musician. He has visited the town of his great-grandparents several times and maintains close ties with the Lübbecke Kantorei.

Lübbecke

Max Lazarus

Lübbecke

Max Lazarus

Ariel Lazarus has provided us with his song "Shamayim V'aretz" (Heaven and Earth) for this app. The song is sung in Hebrew:

Max Lazarus

Learning from the past

Those who do not know the past cannot understand the present or shape the future. (Helmut Kohl)

It's up to you: Do your research and form your own opinion!

The Jewish cemetery stands as a powerful memorial against exclusion, oppression, and the abuse of power. If it weren’t for the Nazis, people would still be buried here, families would tend to the graves of their loved ones, and the synagogue would be part of the cityscape. At the municipal cemetery, too, you'll find traces of those who fell victim to persecution, war, and displacement. In memory of the victims of the Nazi regime’s reign of terror, the “Path of Remembrance” takes place annually on November 9 in Lübbecke. It concludes with a wreath-laying ceremony at the site of the synagogue. On Remembrance Day, we honor the victims of both world wars with a ceremony and wreath-laying at the war memorial in Heldenhain, Lübbecke.