The Nazi system withered one of the most vibrant Jewish communities in Europe. It was mentioned that it was not the constant depredations and humiliations of the authorities, but the lack of information on what happened to those who were taken away was what deeply worried the evacuees. The Nazi regime managed to break this group of people to their most instinctive level: They had little concern for material possession but they cared only about survival at that point.
Synagoge Levetzowstraße in Berlin in 1914 and 1951
How much did Berliners know about the Holocaust? That is a vital question and I am sure one that troubles the Germans to this day. There were rumors about the atrocities that took place but these were dismissed as anti-German propaganda fabricated by the enemies. It was seen as implausible that the land of Freud, Jung, and Einstein would cold-bloodedly execute their Jewish population in ditches in the woods – as what happened in the forest of Rumbula in November, 1941. Many Berliners – Aryans and Jews – were ‘obliged’ to believe the original story that they were simply ‘reallocated’ to camps and ghettos in the east. The fact that Germany was under a fascist regime also strongly inclined many to acquiesce to the official story.