Obermayer German Jewish History Award

Barbara Staudacher and Heinz Högerle

Rexingen, Baden-Württemberg

Some journeys begin unexpectedly. For Barbara Staudacher and Heinz Högerle, their trip down the road of German Jewish history began with their move from Stuttgart to the village of Rexingen in 1999. They found a Jewish cemetery at the top of the hill near their home. With about 1,000 tombstones, "it is one of the largest Jewish cemeteries in Baden-Württemberg," Staudacher, 67, said. "This was the trigger of our interest."

The pair—she is a retired bookseller, and he a publisher—put their interests and skills together to research as deeply as possible, and then to publish books and other printed material about former local Jewish life. Their profound work helps preserve the historical record, and helps former Rexingers connect with their own families' past. 

Just as important, they built strong ties with Jewish families with roots in Rexingen, especially in the US and Israel. It is more than a lifetime's work for Staudacher and Högerle.

Growing up, they had "no information about what is Judaism," said Högerle, 61. "I knew no Jews. And then we came to Rexingen, and we noticed all of a sudden that there had been this dynamic Jewish community." In 2000, they joined the association, Trager-und Forderverein Ehemalige Synagogue Rexingen (Friends of the Former Synagogue in Rexingen), founded in 1997 by Michael Theurer, then mayor of the nearby town of Horb. The synagogue, which had been converted to a church years before, already had been changed back thanks to the association. 

But little information was on hand about the Jews themselves. The pair began exploring archives. Högerle worked on his 424-page, comprehensive volume documenting the graves in the cemetery—In Stein gehauen: Lebensspuren auf dem Rexinger Judenfriedhof (Carved in Stone: Tracing the Past at the Rexingen Jewish Cemetery). 

Eventually, the pair went to America and to Israel, seeking the story of Rexingen's Jews. They wanted to do more than trace history. According to Theurer, 43, who is now serving in the European Parliament, Staudacher and Högerle felt that "It is not enough just to restore the former synagogue, to document the graveyard and to give good lectures to educate people. We should get in touch with those who had to flee, and those who lost their relatives. We have to try to reestablish friendship." Eventually, they learned that there had been about 262 Jews in Rexingen in 1933. In 1938, as Nazi persecution intensified, about 40 Jews immigrated as a group to Palestine. These Jews helped establish the community of Shavei Zion. "They wanted to stay together and found a new community, and this community still exists," Staudacher said.

In 2001, a group of former Rexingers visited from Israel, and Staudacher and Högerle reciprocated the following year. Their research and interviews led to the creation of an exhibit, and then a beautiful published book tracing the history of Rexingen's Jewish community over hundreds of years, up to the founding of Shavei Zion.

In 2008, 20 people with roots in Rexingen, representing four generations, came there for the exhibit opening. Some 600 local citizens also attended. Staudacher and Högerle then took the Israeli visitors to visit their family's graves, and then to their former homes in Rexingen, carrying poster-sized photos of the original inhabitants. "When reaching each house Barbara and Heinz posted the relevant poster on a stand and related the story of the inhabitants," Israel Shapiro, of Haifa, Israel, recalled in his nomination. "Needless to say that no eyes were left dry." 

Since then, the exhibit has been shown across Germany, as well as in Jerusalem and Shavei Zion. The pair continues adding information, as their circle of contacts and personal relationships grow "We find it very exciting, this emotional aspect that has been set in motion between three countries - Israel, Germany and America," said Högerle. "The connections are very close now," added Staudacher, who hopes to inspire younger people to continue the work.

In addition to their volume on the Rexingen cemetery and their regular newsletter and pamphlets on sites of importance, they have published a 300+ page, extensively illustrated book in German and Hebrew on the life and 70-year history of Shavei Zion, another on the cemetery of nearby Muhringen; a booklet about Jewish refugees from Rexingen;; and another on local Jewish cattle dealers.

But they are now doing even more. "There is still a large mountain that has to be researched," Högerle said. This winter, a photographer will interview and photograph former Rexingers in America; a new museum is planned for a former Jewish prayer room in Horb; and a network of local educators is being formed with the aim of encouraging inclusion of local Jewish history in the curricula. Already, Staudacher and Högerle have joined with Theurer to start an educational program about local Jewish history in Horb, and an exchange program with young Israelis. The German pupils also help care for the Rexingen Jewish cemetery, up the hill from where Staudacher and Högerle live.

"They really changed the situation here," said Theurer: "They opened the hearts of the families of Rexingen and the hearts of the families of Shavei Zion, and their descendants, and brought these people together."