Rede von Joel Goldschmidt

(Nachkomme eines Überlebenden aus Sprendlingen)

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Joel J Goldschmidt
September 16, 2025
Sprendlingen, Germany

HONORED GUESTS — I APOLOGIZE FOR SPEAKING IN ENGLISH BUT MY GERMAN IS NOT VERY GOOD.

TO START, I WOULD LIKE TO THANK ALL OF YOU, ESPECIALLY THE STUDENTS, FOR BEING HERE TODAY. I WOULD ALSO LIKE TO EXPRESS MY SINCERE APPRECIATION TO THE BURGERMEISTER AND THE MEMBERS OF THE DREIEICH CITY COUNSEL FOR HOSTING THIS EVENT AND TO THE STAFF OF THE STOLPERSTEINE – INITIATIVE SPRENDLINGEN FOR ORGANIZING AND PLANNING THIS EVENT. I AM ESPECIALLY GRATEFUL TO HERR WILHELM SCHAFER FOR INVITING US TO ATTEND THIS CEREMONY AND FOR OFFERING ME THE OPPORTUNITY TO SPEAK ON BEHALF OF THE GOLDSCHMIDT FAMILY.

MY NAME IS JOEL GOLDSCHMIDT. I HAVE TRAVELLED FROM AMERICA WITH MY WIFE, CHERYL, AND MY BROTHER, DAVID, TO PARTICIPATE IN THIS CEREMONY IN HONOR THE MEMORY OF OUR FATHER, FRED GOLDSCHMIDT, KNOWN AT BIRTH AS SIEGFRIED, WHO PASSED AWAY IN MAY 2023 AT THE AGE OF 95. MY FATHER WAS BORN IN SPRENDLINGEN IN 1928 AND LIVED HERE – 42 HAUPTSTRASSE – WITH HIS PARENTS, JONAS AND JOHANNA GOLDSCHMIDT, AND HIS THREE SIBLINGS, ARTHUR, LEO AND INGE.  THE HOUSE SERVED AS THE HOME OF THE

GOLDSCHMIDT FAMILY FOR MORE THAN 150 YEARS.  MY FATHER’S GREAT-GREAT GRANDPARENTS, PERETZ AND MINA GOLDSCHMIDT, HIS GRANDPARENTS, ARTHUR ABRAHAM AND JETCHEN GOLDSCHMIDT, AND MANY OTHER MEMBERS OF THE FAMILY, ARE BURIED IN THE JEWISH CEMETARY HERE IN SPRENDLINGEN.

MY FATHER WAS PART OF THE FIFTH GENERATION OF GOLDSCHMIDTS TO LIVE IN SPRENDLINGEN. HE WAS ALSO THE LAST MEMBER OF THE FAMILY TO BE BORN HERE. IN 1940, MY FATHER, HIS SISTER AND THEIR PARENTS FLED GERMANY TO JOIN HIS TWO OLDER BROTHERS IN AMERICA. WHEN THEY LEFT, THE ONLY MEMBERS OF THE FAMILY REMAINING IN SPRENDLINGEN WERE HIS AUNTS, SOPHIE KAHN AND BERTHA HIRSCH, AND THEIR FAMILIES WHO WERE DEPORTED IN 1942 AND DIED IN THE CONCENTRATION CAMPS.

OVER THE YEARS, MANY DESCENDANTS OF PERETZ AND MINA LEFT SPRENDLINGEN. MOST OF THEM EMIGRATED TO AMERICA. TO DATE, WE HAVE IDENTIFIED APPROXIMATELY 2,700 DESCENDANTS OF PERETZ AND MINA GOLDSCHMIDT, INCLUDING SPOUSES, SPANNING TEN GENERATIONS AND SCATTERED ACROSS THE GLOBE – THE UNITD STATES, CANADA, SOUTH AMERICA, ENGLAND, EUROPE, RUSSIA, ISRAEL, SOUTH AFRICA, AUSTRALIA, INDONESIA, JAPAN, SOUTH KOREA AND VIETNAM.  THE DETAILS ARE CONTAINED IN THIS 570-PAGE GENEOLOGY REPORT, WHICH WE ARE DONATING TO THE STOLPERSTEINE INITIATIVE – SPRENDLINGEN.

MANY YEARS AGO, I SUGGESTED TO MY FATHER THAT WE TAKE A FATHER/SON TRIP TO SPRENDLINGEN. HE REFUSED. HE WAS ONLY TEN YEARS OLD WHEN, ON NOVEMBER 9TH, 1938, NAZI HOOLIGANS RAMPAGED THROUGH THE TOWN, BEATING AND ARRESTING JEWISH MEN, DESTROYING JEWISH OWNED BUSINESSES, INCUDING MY GRANDFATHER’S BUTCHER SHOP, AND TORCHED THE SYNAGOGUE, WHICH WAS LOCATED RIGHT ACROSS THE STREET. MY FATHER NEVER FORGOT THAT NIGHT. EVERY YEAR ON THE NIGHT OF NOVEMBER 9TH HE WOULD CALL ME TO REMIND ME THAT IT WAS THE ANNIVERSARY OF KRISTALNACHT.

MY GRANDPARENTS LEFT GERMANY WITH NOTHING BUT THE CLOTHES ON THEIR BACKS. THEY DID NOT SPEAK ENGLISH OR, BEING TRUE GERMAN JEWS, YIDDISH. AT THE TIME, MY GRANDFATHER WAS WELL INTO HIS SIXTIES. GIVEN HIS AGE, LIMITED SKILLS AND THE LANGUAGE BARRIER, THERE WERE NO EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITIES FOR HIM IN AMERICA. THUS, MY GRANDPARENTS WERE TOTALLY DEPENDENT ON THEIR SONS, OTHER FAMILY MEMBERS AND THE KINDNESS OF STRANGERS.

ON THE OTHER HAND, MY FATHER AND HIS SIBLINGS ADAPTED WELL TO AMERICA. THEY LEARNED TO SPEAK ENGLISH; THEY IMMERSED THEMSELVES IN AMERICAN CULTURE; ARTHUR AND LEO SERVED IN THE U.S. ARMY DURING WORLD WAR II, MY FATHER SERVED IN THE NATIONAL GUARD. THEY STARTED THEIR OWN BUSINESSES. THEY MARRIED; LIVED COMFORTABLE LIVES, ADHERED TO THEIR FAITH IN GOD, RAISED 10 CHILDREN TO BE PROUD AND OBSERVANT JEWS AND LIVED TO SEE 29 GRANDCHILDREN AND A FEW GREAT-GRANDCHILDREN. IF THEY WERE ALIVE TODAY, MY FATHER AND HIS SIBLINGS WOULD COLLECTIVELY HAVE 60 GREAT-GRANDCHILDREN. THEIR DESCENDANTS INCLUDE DOCTORS, NURSES AND OTHER HEALTH CARE PROFESSIONALS; LAWYERS; EDUCATORS; RABBIS, SOFTWARE DEVELOPERS AND ENGINEERS; AND ENTREPRENEURS.

BUT THE HISTORY OF THE GOLDSCHMIDT FAMILY IS NOT UNIQUE AMONG THE JEWISH PEOPLE. WE ARE A NATION OF SURVIVORS. WE ARE THE ETERNAL PEOPLE. EVERY YEAR AT THE PASSOVER SEDER – THE SPECIAL MEAL COMEMORATING THE EXODUS FROM EGYPT – WE MAKE THE FOLLOWING DECLARATION:

“IN EACH AND EVERY GENERATION THEY ARISE AGAINST US TO EXTERMINATE US”

“AND THE HOLY ONE BLESSED BE HE, SAVES US FROM THEIR HANDS”

  • IN BIBLICAL TIMES IT WAS EGYPTIANS, AMELEKITES AND
  • IN THE FIRST TEMPLE PERIOD IT WAS ASSYRIANS AND
  • IN THE SECOND TEMPLE PERIOD IT WAS GREEK-HELLENISTS AND
  • IN THE MIDDLE AGES IT WAS INQUISITORS, CRUSADERS AND
  • IN THE EARLY MODERN ERA IT WAS COMMUNISTS, STALINISTS AND
  • TODAY IT IS ISLAMIC FUNDAMENTALIST, LED BY IRAN AND ITS PROXIES, HAMAS, HEZBOLLAH AND HOUTHIS.

 

ALTHOUGH WE HAVE SURVIVED THOUSANDS OF YEARS OF PERSECUTION, POGROMS AND EXILE AND OVERCOME REPEATED ATTEMPTS TO ANNIHILATE US, JEW-HATRED HAS ENDURED AND IS ONCE AGAIN SPREADING THROUGHOUT THE WORLD – EUROPE, CANADA, AUSTRALIA, THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, EUROPE– AND EVEN TO GLOBAL INSTITUTIONS.  ANTI-SEMITISM, ONCE THOUGHT TO BE ONLY FOUND ON THE LUNATIC FRINGES OF SOCIETY, HAS ONCE AGAIN BECOME ACCEPTABLE IN ALMOST EVERY SEGMENT OF CIVIL SOCIETY – POLITICAL, SOCIAL, ECONOMIC, ARTISTIC AND EDUCATIONAL.

BUT THERE IS A DIFFERENCE BETWEEN WHAT IS HAPPENING TODAY AND WHAT HAPPENED 80+ YEARS AGO IN NAZI GERMANY. JEWS ARE NO LONGER POWERLESS OR HOMELESS.

WHEN I WAS GROWING UP IN THE UNITED STATES IN THE 1960’S AND 1970’S, WE, THE FIRST POST-HOLOCAUST GENERATION, HAD A VERY SIMPLE TWO WORD SLOGAN THAT CAPTURED OUR FEELINGS AND OUR MISSION:

NEVER AGAIN!

  • NEVER AGAIN WOULD WE BE SILENT IN THE FACE OF ANTI-
  • NEVER AGAIN WOULD WE ALLOW OURSELVES TO BE LED TO
  • NEVER AGAIN WOULD WE BE POWERLESS TO DEFEND OURSELVES. TO THAT END:
  • WE FOUGHT ANTI-SEMITISM, RACISM AND
  • WE RALLIED AND PROTESTED, PEACEFULLY, IN SUPPORT OF SOVIET JEWRY, EHTHIOPIAN JEWRY, JEWS TRAPPED IN ARAB COUNTRIES.
  • WE REBUILT OUR COMMUNITIES RELIGOUSLY, SOCIALLY, ECONOMICALLY,
  • WE CONTINUED TO BUILD AND STRENGTHEN OUR ANCESTRAL HOMELAND – THE LAND OF ISRAEL — CREATING A VIBRANT AND THRIVING POLITICAL ENTITY — THE ONLY DEMOCRACY IN THE MIDDLE EAST.
  • WE TURNED A BARREN LAND WITH LIMITED NATURAL RESOURCES INTO AN ECONOMIC POWERHOUSE.
  • WE MADE SIGNIFICANT CONTRIBUTIONS IN EVERY ASPECT OF HUMAN EXISTENCE – MEDICINE, HEALTHCARE, LAW, ECONOMICS, THE ARTS, TECHNOLOGY
  • WE BUILT A SECURITY ESTABLISHMENT CAPABLE OF DEFENDING JEWS AROUND THE WORLD.

BY ANY STANDARD, WE HAVE BEEN SUCCESSFUL. BUT UNFINISHED BUSINESS REMAINS. EVEN THOUGH OUR ENEMIES HAVE BEEN VANQUISHED, THEIR IDEOLOGY – JEW HATRED — SURVIVES.

SO, TODAY WE HAVE A NEW SLOGAN; A SLOGAN THAT IS TAUGHT TO EVERY JEWISH CHILD FROM THE MOMENT THEY ENTER SCHOOL. EVEN MY 4-YEAR OLD GRANDDAUGHTER KNOWS IT. WE SHOUT IT. WE SING IT. WE INSCRIBE IT ON FLAGS,  POSTERS  AND  BANNERS.   THIS  SLOGAN  REFLECTS  OUR PRIDE,  OUR

STRENGTH, OUR DETERMINATION AND, DESPITE WHAT CRITICS WOULD LIKE TO

BELIEVE, OUR UNITY. IT IS SLIGHTLY LONGER THAN THE OLD SLOGAN – THREE HEBREW WORDS RATHER THAN TWO ENGLISH WORDS:

AM YISRAEL CHAI!

THE PEOPLE OF ISRAEL LIVE.

I KNOW THE GERMANY OF TODAY IS NOT THE GERMANY OF 1933-1945. AS YOUR PRESENCE HERE TODAY INDICATES, GERMANY HAS ACKNOWLEDGED ITS PAST AND DEMONSTRATED A COMMITMENT AND DETERMINATION TO FIGHT ANTI-SEMITISM. TODAY, GERMANY IS ONE OF ISRAEL’S MOST LOYAL AND DEPENDABLE ALLIES. FOR THIS, WE ARE EXTREMELY GRATEFUL. IT IS MY HOPE THAT YOU, PARTICULARLY THE YOUNGER GENERATION, WILL CONTINUE TO BE OUR PARTNER IN OUR EFFORTS CONFRONT, OPPOSE AND DEFEAT THE IDEOLOGY THAT THREATEN OUR VERY EXISTENCE. I AM CONFIDENT THAT, TOGETHER, WE WILL ULTIMATELY PREVAIL.

THANK YOU FOR YOUR PATIENCE AND ATTENTION.

AM YISRAEL CHAI!