On the Stones of the Synagogue

There is one iconic photo of Freiburg's burned-down synagogue taken on November 10, 1938, that not only is part of my web page Freiburgs Geschichte in Zitaten (Freiburg's history represented in quotations) but also serves as historical evidence on the newly installed municipal information panels at the Platz der Alten Synagoge.

Middenhoff's famous photo (©Staatsarchiv Freiburg)

Although it was strictly forbidden to take pictures of the smoldering ruins of the Jewish house of prayer, the student of law Wolf Middendorff took a risk and shot the only known photo, becoming a sort of hero after the war. He was honored not only for his audacity but became a law professor serving at the renowned Max Planck Institute of International Law one block away from my apartment.

Tall Middendorff in HJ uniform
(©Staatsarchiv Freiburg)

This morning an article in the Badische Zeitung changed Middendorff's image dramatically. Markus Wolter, a historian and librarian has unveiled the Nazi past of this "hero," who, in fact, was not just a Mitläufer (nominal follower) of the regime but an active member of the Nationalsozialistischer Schülerbund (Nazi Schoolchildren's League). Later he rose through the ranks of the Hitler Youth (HJ) to become Unterbannführer (Local leader of HJ) in Freiburg. Having reached the age of 19 in 1935, Middendorff became member number 3,594,133 of the NSDAP (Nazi Party). During the war, he served in the Luftwaffe (air force). In the winter semester of 1945/46, he was one of the first law students in Freiburg. By keeping his Nazi past secret, he obtained the famous Persil-Schein* (denazification certificate) by fraud, opening a public service career in court. He later boasted of having "whitewashed" many old Nazis in this capacity.
*Brand name of a famous washing powder: "Persil, nothing washes whiter."

What makes the Middendorff Affair unbearable is his anti-Semitic notes found after his death when, e. g., he welcomes the fact that Freiburg's university was in the winter semester of 1938/39 judenfrei (free of Jews). To cap it all off, he wrote a "poem" modifying the text of an old ballad: Wetzt die langen Messer am Synagogenstein, daß sie besser flutschen in den Judenbauch hinein (Sharpen your long knives on the stones of the synagogue, so they may more smoothly glide into the Jews' bellies). Nauseating!

Knowing Middenhoff's story, his famous photo reproduced on municipal information panels derides the Jewish victims. Unfortunately, this is just another chapter in the unfinished saga of the Platz der Alten Synagoge. Markus Wolter rightly demands that the photo be commented on extensively in the final version of those information panels.

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