Obermayer German Jewish History Award

Moritz Schmid

Ichenhausen, Bavaria

Arnold Erlanger was born in 1916 in Ichenhausen. Right after Kristallnacht occurred, he was arrested and sent to Buchenwald concentration camp, released and later sent to a series of other camps including Auschwitz. During what was to have been his death march, he was liberated by the United States Army on April 23, 1945. In 1950 he emigrated to Australia.

Arnold Erlanger is proud to nominate Moritz Schmid who grew up in Ichenhausen, as well. Moritz was three years younger than Arnold Erlanger, but Arnold remembers the family vividly, particularly the elder Schmids, who vehemently refused to join the Nazi party. The father, Mr. Schmid, was officially reprimanded for having contact with Jewish people. He was a man of great personal courage. 

His son, Moritz, eventually became mayor of Ichenhausen and a member of the district government. Since his formative years had included extensive contact with Jewish people, Moritz Schmid was very aware of the atrocities that occurred during the Nazi regime. When the German federal government decided to remove the remaining walls of the dilapidated Synagogue, Schmid realized that with the walls gone, nothing would ever be restored. In 1953 there was no money available for rebuilding synagogues, particularly in a community without Jews. He convinced the City Council to buy the building for the Fire-Brigade until money for restoration became available.

Moritz Schmid made it his lifetime ambition to restore the Synagogue in memory of the 164 out of 166 Jews deported from Ichenhausen who were subsequently murdered. This restoration project, which included the cemetery, honored his parents’ wishes as well. Since the official opening of the “Haus der Begegnung” in December 1987, over 120,000 people have visited the rebuilt synagogue which is used for lectures, concerts, exhibits from Israel and a permanent exhibition entitled “Juden Auf dem Lande”.