Homefront

Ohel Jacob Synagogue, Munich, pre-1938.

Ohel Jacob Synagogue, principal synagogue of Munich, as it was pre-1938. The site was donated to the Jewish community by King Ludwig II of Bavaria - patron of Hitler's musical hero, Richard Wagner - in 1882. Interestingly, the building did not have to wait for the Kristallnacht pogrom to be destroyed. Acting on a comment of Hitler's, to the effect that the synagogue was "an eyesore", Gauleiter Adolf Wagner arbitrarily ordered its demolition on 9 June, 1938 - five months before the pogrom. Demolition had not been completed by pogrom-time, so that a final bout of destruction occurred at that point. The site, apparently, became a car park. Best regards, JR.