Dedication Service of Bad Nauheim Synagogue.

The program for the June 24, 1945 rededication service of the synagogue in Bad Nauheim, State of Hesse, Germany. Organized by the Headquarters of XIX Corps with the officiating chaplain Samuel Blinder and Cpl. Melvin Miller of the United States Army, acting as Cantor. A Jewish presence in Bad Nauheim dated back centuries. In 1928 a new synagogue was dedicated which served the several hundred Jews resident there. Following the end of war and entering the synagogue for the first time since 1939, it was found to be a wreck, with floors torn up, the Ark, Cantor’s pulpit and pews utterly destroyed and the walls covered in fecal matter. Though none of the original Jewish community returned home, the rededicated synagogue was used to serve American soldiers stationed at Bad Nauheim, where the US 12th Army was headquartered. “Not only have the Jewish people been devastated, but their institutions have as well - Schools, hospitals, libraries, synagogues. Of the latter, very few remain in Germany. Most of them have been burned, razed to the ground, and the few that have remained were used by the Nazis for warehouses, or as a dumping place for all kinds of junk. Because of this fact we are particularly happy, to celebrate today the Dedication of the restored Synagogue in Bad Nauheim. Though none of the Jewish community remain, it will serve as a House of Worship for American Soldiers of Jewish Faith. And if ever a Jewish community returns to life here, then they will have this synagogue for their use.” See https://nmajmh.org/stories/echoes-of-the-maccabees/.