Berlin - 7-8 Levetzowstrasse (Moabit Locality)

Summary: Berlin’s magnificent synagogue at 7-8 Levetzowstrasse, built in the style of the 18th century, had a seating capacity of over 2,000. The building complex, which was to include classrooms and living accommodation for the rabbi, was designed by Johann Hoeniger in 1912 and consecrated in 1914, but was not completed in its entirety until 1919. Built to make up for the dearth of religious facilities for Jews in the Moabit and adjoining Hansa localities, the Levetzowstrasse synagogue was the largest in Berlin. Because the area was home to a large Jewish population of varying forms of Jewish observance, several suggestions were made as to the mode of worship. Finally, the decision was made to conduct liberal services. The synagogue was damaged on Pogrom Night (November 1938) but was not fully destroyed until the war years. The building served as an assembly point for Jewish deportees prior their transport to the East; many heartbreaking scenes took place there. In 1986, a memorial tablet was unveiled at the Grunewald train station in Berlin, commemorating the thousands who were sent, starting out from the Levetzowstrasse synagogue and then via that station, to their deaths in the camps.

Author / Sources: Harold Slutzkin; Sources: SIB, WDJB