Good news for anyone interested in the history of East Prussia: you can now download the book “Sabbatleuchter und Kriegerverein, Juden in der ostpreußisch-litauischen Grenzregion 1812–1942” (Sabbath Candlesticks and the War Veterans’ Association: Jews in the East Prussian-Lithuanian Border Region 1812–1942) free of charge.
In this work (in German), historian Ruth Leiserowitz describes how Jews lived in East Prussia in the 19th century and up until World War II in a predominantly Protestant society, what roles they played, and how they built and maintained their own communities. It provides insights into economic and cultural life in Tilsit, Gumbinnen, Heydekrug, and Memel. There are also reflections on life on the direct border with the Tsarist Empire (and later with the Republic of Lithuania), as well as a look across to the other side and into the other society. This is particularly clear in the chapter on Eydtkuhnen and Kybartai. The author has evaluated documents from archives in Berlin, Jerusalem, Vilnius, and Allenstein for this work.
The title of the book, Sabbatleuchter und Kriegerverein (Sabbath Candlesticks and the War Veterans’ Association), symbolizes the tension between Jewish tradition and German-Jewish patriotism, which formed the value system for many Jewish East Prussians. Many Jews who fled this northernmost region of Germany after 1933 carried their Sabbath candlesticks in their luggage and in their memories the role they had played as good German citizens and veterans of the First World War, which suddenly no longer counted.
The description of Jewish life in this region, aspects that have been left out of many other works to date, helps readers gain a new and better understanding of the history of East Prussia.