Under Hitler's Nose: Fugitive Jews in Wartime Berlin

Guest Blog post by Vera Litvin

A varied audience turned up to listen to historian Roger Moorhouse discuss “Fugitive Jews in Wartime Berlin” this Tuesday: from regulars to the centre to media students from Belfast. We were all united by one thing: with our comfortable lives in which food, accommodation and legal status are taken for granted it wasn’t easy for us to imagine life as a “non-person” in Nazi Berlin. However, Roger Moorhouse’s engaging and vivid lecturing style quickly drew us into the underground world of Jews who decided to destroy their papers, leave behind their identity and hide in Berlin from 1935 onwards in order to escape deportation to the camps. 

These Jews were known as the “taucher”, literally “divers”, who dove beneath the respectable surface of society and lived on its margins. There were 10-11 thousand “taucher”, of which 1400 survived the war. This means that roughly 1 out of 8 of Jews hiding in Berlin survived, quite a remarkable statistic considering the hardships they had to endure. Going underground was to commit yourself to a life of lying, cheating and stealing. As a “non-person” without documents you were not eligible for any food rations and always in danger of denunciation and being caught by the Gestapo.

Roger expanded on all aspects of the lives of these hidden Jews, from using peroxide to dye their hair an “Aryan” blonde, to the tough decision to become “illegal” in the first place when previously they had been law-abiding citizens. There are many stories of the kindness of German Berliners in helping “taucher”, ranging from those who provided a few nights’ shelter to those who provided documents, allowing Jews to assume new German identities.

Roger Moorhouse

Despite the mental strains, isolation and exhaustion that life an illegal Jew in Berlin must have carried, there are also positive moments in Roger Moorhouse’s account. “I thought our life was a great adventure…it was great fun” remembers one young illegal Jew. Some Jews, like Larry Orbach, who lied and cheated his way across Berlin and later wrote an uplifting memoir about it, found great freedom in a life lived outside the norms of a repressive society. Ultimately, this is a fascinating story of courage, audacity, inventiveness and sheer will to survive on the part of “taucher” and bravery and kindness on the part of those who helped them. 

Other events not to miss at the LJCC: Rex Bloomstein: The Director’s Cut – Confronting the Holocaust at 7.30pm on Thursday 24 November

Book Launch: Fleeing From the Fuhrer at 7.30pm on Monday 5 December

Survivors Speak: Freddie Knoller at 7.30pm on Thursday 8 December

Roger Moorhouse’s book Berlin at War is available here

Sushi, Gefilte fish and being Jewish in Japan

On October 16^th the LJCC will be holding a Family Sushi making workshop, giving the opportunity for families with young teenagers to learn a new skill together. “So what’s Jewish about that?” I hear you ask. “Since when did Sushi become a part of Jewish Culture?” And yet, if you type Kosher Sushi in to Google, your search returns 9,870,000 results.

One such result suggests that perhaps we should consider the possibility that Gefilte fish is a Jewish version of sushi, or maybe even the predecessor of it? After all, Gefilte fish, although cooked, does have the texture of raw fish, is boneless and shaped into a ball, and decorated with carrot.

Or maybe it’s just that in this shrinking world, cultures from across the globe are intermingling, as are its people and particularly as the Diaspora reaches the further flung corners, our culture embraces that of our adopted countries. After all gefilte fish, knishes and cholent all originated from Eastern Europe.

So what of the Jews in Japan? Jews have been living in Japan since at least the 1860s, perhaps much, much longer. The first settler we know of in modern times arrived in Yokohama in 1861, and synagogues were later established in Nagasaki (1889), Kobe (1937), and finally Tokyo (1953). Today there are approximately 2,000 Jews in living in Japan, excluding military personnel. Most reside in the Tokyo area with about 60 percent come from the U.S., 25 percent from Israel, and the rest from all over the world. There are also a handful of Japanese converts.

There are three active Jewish communities in Japan today, one in Kobe and the others in Tokyo including a reform synagogue and they are made up from local residents, business men, and travelers from around the world. One resident, when asked by the JC what it is like being Jewish in Japan replied "The answer depends on my mood. My negative response is that it is rather difficult (especially if you are kosher), since pork is the staple of the Japanese diet, and they also rather like their shellfish. But if I am feeling positive, the answer is that being Jewish in Japan is really not that different to being Jewish in any other place in the world. We have always been a nomadic people - where we go, our Jewish identity follows.”


And perhaps that is why, at the LJCC we see that making Sushi is not such an unusual thing for us to be doing, but we are just embracing the fact that there are Jews living all over the world, managing how they can and incorporating their host country’s culture in to their own.


If you are living in a small Jewish community around the world, or know of anyone we would love to hear your stories and to learn how you incorporate new cultures in to your Jewish customs.

Can you define Judaism?

On a recent visit to the GP with my son, the  Dr asked us where we were from.  My initial reaction was to say London, but we were in London, talking with English accents, so I asked her to clarify what she meant. “You both have such a lot of curly hair” she said, “ I just wondered …..”  My immediate response, as though I’d now understood what she was referring to, was “We’re Jewish”, which seemed to satisfy her, but I came away wondering why it had, as actually I’m not a religious Jew at all and what does curly hair have to do with a religion?

Ask a group of people what does being Jewish mean to them, some will say it is a religion, some a race and some a culture, so which one is it, or is it all three?  The simple answer is that it is not that simple.

Living in the UK in the 21^st Century, many Jews, particularly the younger generation are struggling with their Jewish identity, and we are seeing an increasing rate of assimilation as Jews intermarry or abandon Judaism altogether. Is it that Jews feel if they do not follow the religion, attend synagogue regularly and celebrate the festivals, they can no longer consider themselves Jewish, or is there a cultural element that still helps them to retain their Jewish identity?

From my point of view, I am not religious, do not attend synagogue and increasingly do not celebrate the festivals, but there is still a strong sense of Jewish identity within me which I hope I am passing on to my children. I eat bagels, chopped liver, gefilte fish and kneidlach and I don’t eat bacon.  I feel an affinity with Jewish comedians, artists and actors and love watching programmes such as “Who do You Think you Are?” where someone famous explores their Jewish heritage, and I tell the Dr I’m Jewish, when she asks about my curly hair!

So when I read an article this morning about Punk Jews, a documentary about different groups of Jews, exploring their identities together through cultural activities, I realised that the London Jewish Cultural Centre is doing just that. We provide opportunities for people from all walks of life to explore their Jewish identity and of course, and just as importantly, for non Jewish people to learn more about our heritage.

As the LJCC is independent and inclusive, we welcome Jews and non Jews of all affiliations, recognising that Jewish identity can be explored through culture as well as religion. For such a minority group, a relatively large number of Jewish actors, comedians and artists of all types have enjoyed huge success around the world, contributing to a rich and varied cultural heritage.

The new term starts this week, and we have a very exciting programme of activities lined up for the autumn term covering language, literature, film, art, comedy, music, dance, history and of course the all important food!

Come and explore with us and learn more about what Judaism means to you. How do you define Judaism?

Jewish culture around the world

Synagogue in Bridgetown, Barbados

As the summer draws to a close and thoughts start to return to school, work and winter, I thought it might be interesting to compare some summer travel experiences in relation to Jewish culture.

One evening whilst on holiday in Italy, my family and I found ourselves sharing a table with a family of three women, the grandmother, mother and daughter, who said they were from Los Angeles, a fact that their accents clearly betrayed as not entirely true. As we chatted, it became clear that they were Jewish immigrants from Uzbekistan and they had moved to the United States after the collapse of the Soviet Union.  What was originally intended as a quick supper before heading off for the evening, turned in to an evening of fascinating conversation, hearing first hand what life had been like for the Jews under the Soviet regime, and how their father in particular, a University professor practised Judaism secretly at the same time as being a member of the Communist party, in order to gain a job. They told us how they had to leave the house in the middle of the night to go to the synagogue to get some Matzo for Pesach.

Although we only spent three hours with this family, we came away with a feeling of awe and admiration for them and what they went through to maintain their faith and heritage. Whenever we meet other Jewish people from around the world, there is always an affinity, and a sense of celebration of our shared heritage. Several years ago we arrived at the synagogue in Barbados for a Friday night service.  There are only about 80 Jewish families on Barbados and we were welcomed like one of the family and invited out for a trip to “the best ice cream parlour on the island” after the service.

When we travel, as Jews, we often seek out sites of Jewish heritage, of which there are many fascinating ones around the world, even if our destination is not known for its Jewish history. Some are just remnants of communities that once were and others are wonderful testaments to the survival of our Jewish culture, and I think these experiences remind us of the importance of keeping our heritage alive. Living in England we are fortunate that our Matzo purchases need not be clandestine or dangerous but we should appreciate and celebrate that fact. This autumn we have lined up a wonderful choice of Jewish cultural events here in London, seminars, activities and tours for you to enjoy,  and hope that you will come and join us in our celebration.

We would love to hear of any summer travel experiences you have had, or places you have visited this summer with unexpected and surprising Jewish connections. 

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