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Briefe von Onkel Max. Schreiben aus dem Exil nach Leipzig, zwischen Shanghai und der SBZ, Israel und der DDR 1945-1969

The article focuses on the letters of the physician Max Prochownik to his Leipzig-based niece Alice Seiffert. Prochownik left Leipzig in the late 1930s in view of the anti-Semitic policy of the “Third Reich” emigrating first to Shanghai and then to Israel, where he remained from 1950 on. His niece was deported to Theresienstadt. She survived the Ghetto and returned to her hometown. In 1946 they began an intensive correspondence. Unfortunately the letters of Alice Seiffert are not available to research. The writings of Max Prochownik, however, provide not only impressions of everyday life in Shanghai as well as in the new-founded state Israel, but also illustrate his decision process between exile and remigration as well as the different handling of “Wiedergutmachung” in the two German states. Furthermore the letters reveal the possibilities but also the restrictions of international communication between two related Holocaust survivors living in two antagonized states during the Cold War – the GDR and Israel.

Die angebliche Hostienschändung in Pulkau 1338 und ihre Rezeption in der christlichen und jüdischen Geschichtsschreibung

In 1338, an alleged desecration of communion wafers in the Lower Austrian town of Pulkau triggered a wave of persecution against Jews that reached far beyond the local area. Although the contemporary historiography noted these pogroms, the perception and memory of the Pulkau incident soon became blurred when both Jewish and Christian historiography began to include the Pulkau persecutions amongst waves of persecution reaching further afield. When Jewish historiographers of the nineteenth century turned their attention to the history of the Jews in Austria, the persecutions of the Middle Ages had blurred within collective memory into one single pogrom.

Blank Generation? – Der amerikanische Punk als Reflexionsmedium jüdischer Geschichte

Is Punk Jewish? Numerous references to Jewish culture and history in the American Punk of the 1970s suggest so. But how should we interpret the widespread use of National Socialist symbols on the Punk scene? This article traces this ambivalent relationship against the background of Critical Theory and hypothesizes that this particular reinterpretation of the swastika is the American punks’ attempt to point to a danger foreseen by Adorno – that the memory of the Shoah is meaningless when frozen in rituals.

Editorial issue 6

We are glad to announce that with the new issue of Medaon the editorial staff has expanded greatly. With Mathias Berek, Michaela Christ, Kai Drewes, Tobias Ebbrecht, Alina Gromova and Anna-Dorothea Ludewig we will have competent contacts in the fields of the historiography of film, culture and literature science, the history and impact of the Shoah, as well as in the fields of educational and intermediational work on Jewish history at our disposal.

Birgit Wiedl (St. Pölten) investigates the depiction and remembrance of the 1338 pogroms in Pulkau against Jews in her now sixth contribution to Medaon. An event that constitutes merely the beginning of a series of regional persecutions. She analyses especially how the event finds (hidden) resemblance in contemporary and connected Jewish and Christian historiography.

Hendrik Niether (Jena) fathoms out chances and boundaries of open postal communication for jewish emigrants under the political conditions of the Cold War on the basis of letters composed by Max Prochowniks after 8 May 1945 and addressed to his niece living in Leipzig.

In front of the background of a considerable proportion of protagonists with Jewish backgrounds in the first American Punk generation Jonas Engelmann (Mainz), in a third contribution, goes into detail especially on textual references to Jewish culture and history in sub-cultural praxis. He therein sets focus on the use of national socialist symbols.

While Anna Menny (Munich/Hamburg) essentially introduces the question of her doctoral project, the relationship between Jews and non-Jews in the social environment of Spain after 1950, Jana Mikota, in the series “Jewish female authors – rediscovered”, presents the life and work of Meta Samson (1894-1942) who was killed in Auschwitz. Karsten Fritz (Dresden) sheds light on the depiction of Jewish Life in film-production at the DEFA-Studios.

Daniela Wittig (Dresden) at this point presents a rediscovered source significant for local and regional history with her documentation of the “Verzeichniß der Ruhenden auf dem israelitischen Friedhof zu Dresden” from 1852, a record which also includes a layout of the cemetery. Kai Drewes (Braunschweig) illustrates the close interconnectedness of contemporary xeno- and Russian-phobic tendencies at German Universities with anti-Semitism focussing on the writing of student Falk Weinreb from 17 January 1905.

In a contribution under the heading “education” Karin Zenker (Dresden) examines the didactic potentials of the Reader “Sehen. Deuten. Handeln. Filme und Materialien zur Projektarbeit mit Jugendlichen und jungen Erwachsenen zum Thema Jüdisches Leben in Deutschland heute”, edited by the Amadeu Antonio Foundation, and the recomended films therein. Armin Krahl (Hamburg) reflects upon the research of two local teams (Zarbze/Poland and Liberec/Czech Republic) of the transnationally oriented remembrance project [Weiße Flecken (White Stains)] of step21. A non-profit initiative that researches into the still little investigated courses of the November pogroms on site. Christina Werner (Braunschweig) presents the audio-guide for the Jewish Museum in Braunschweig as realized by a school-project.

As usual a variety of reviews will provide critical insight into recent scientific publications.

The current issue of Medaon would not have been possible without the support of Cathleen Bürgelt, Wendy Anne Kopisch and Phillip Roth, as well as all the reviewers – the editors wish to express their gratitude to them.

The Medaon staff, April 2010