Jawne

In Cologne, the Lern- und Gedenkort Jawne commemorates a Jewish Reformrealgymnasium that, in the first half of the 20th century, was a formative educational institution for the Jewish community in the Rhineland. The school is named after the historical site of Javne (Hebrew: יבנה), where, after the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 CE, the structure of Jewish scholarship was to be preserved.

The building stands on the grounds of the former school, thereby creating a direct link between the historic site and today’s memorial work. The Jawne was founded in 1919 by a rabbi of the local Orthodox community Adass Jeschurun; in 1925 the school received state recognition. By the late 1920s more than 400 Jewish students attended the institution; in the 1930s the painter Ludwig Meidner also taught there as a drawing teacher.

The last headmaster, Studiendirektor Erich Klibansky, early on recognized the threat posed by National Socialism and prepared the young people for possible emigration through intensified instruction in English and Modern Hebrew. After the November pogroms of 1938, Klibansky and the faculty organised children’s transports to England, in which numerous students left without their parents; at least 130 Jewish children from Cologne thus survived. With the outbreak of the Second World War these options ended; in 1942 Klibansky, his family and the remaining students, together with many Jews from Cologne, were deported to the vicinity of Minsk and murdered there.

On the former school grounds the history of the Jawne is presented in exhibitions and places of remembrance; current displays commemorate the children and everyday school life. The former schoolyard has borne the name Erich-Klibansky-Platz since 1990 and contains a memorial designed by a former pupil, featuring a lion fountain and the names of those murdered. The commitment to preserving and interpreting the memorial has been recognised several times. After a dispute over the use of the premises at the end of 2009, an agreement was reached in early 2010 that secures a permanent existence for the Lern- und Gedenkort. Care is provided by a working group in conjunction with the EL-DE-Haus; this commitment was honoured by the Landschaftsverband Rheinland with the Rheinlandtaler.