Our Aims

We want to restore the former synagogue of Steinsfurt so that it can be recognised as a former place for worship and gatherings for an important group within the population of Steinsfurt.

It can't be a synagogue any longer in the proper meaning of the word because the community which would meet there doesn't exist anymore — but not by their own choice.

We accept that the building has been put to other uses in the meantime which have left marks of violation and disrespect — these shall remain visible.

We want to remember the persons who lived in Steinsfurt and were members of the Jewish community, their life in Steinsfurt and their compulsory escape from the village.

The synagogue is at the same time a memorial for the crimes of the regime responsible, which was a German regime. We acknowledge that hardly anybody helped the persecuted or resisted the crime.

The synagogue is to remind us that something like that shall never happen again.

So we try to introduce young persons into historical memory.

 

Another formulation of our aims is encapsulated in our mission statement. (It is here in German)