Erich Klibansky
Encyclopedia
Erich Klibansky was headmaster and teacher of Jawne
, the first Jewish
Gymnasium
of Rhineland
in Cologne
.
s originally located in Lithuania
near Kaunas
, was born in Frankfurt am Main. His father directed there a known interdenominational boarding school, that also his son attended. Afterwards Klibansky attended the Frankfurt Goethe-Gymnasium and studied at university in Frankfurt am Main, Marburg
and Munich
History
, German studies
and Romance studies
. He graduated in Marburg in 1925 with a thesis on “The topographic changes of the Frankfurt archbishop’s authorities in Hesse“.
From his marriage with Meta David from Hamburg came the three sons Hans-Raphael, Alexander and Michael. In the spring of 1929 the family relocated to Cologne, where he purchased a spacious apartment in a house in Volksgartenstraße.
, which had been created ten years before. Despite the hardships of the 1929 difficult incipient economic crisis, Klibansky succeeded to assure the school’s survival. As the school, being private, didn’t receive any subsidy
, he raised funds for reconstruction and renovation, so that with the school fee of 400 mark the operation of the school was assured.
Under Klibansky the school got a continuously growing level of esteem from the whole Jewish population of Cologne. After the Nazis took power in Germany in 1933 and with the growing discrimination
of the Jews of Cologne Klibanksy didn’t have many illusions concerning his future in Germany.
.
With the approval of the Central Reich Office for Emigration he found in London
support for his plan from important Jewish personalities. The Central British Council for Refugees arranged for the accommodation in a college for his students. Before the breakout of the war in 1939 he was able to send five classes for a total of 130 students to Great Britain, afterwards the borders were closed.
In 1990 a square in Cologne has been nominated to him: the Erich Klibansky Platz
.
Jawne
The Jawne was a Jewish Reformrealgymnasium in Cologne.- Name :The school took its name from the town Yavne near Tel Aviv, where the Jewish Supreme Court, the Sanhedrin, after the destruction of Jerusalem in year 70 D.C., tried to maintain the Jewish traditions with a school of Jewish law.- History...
, the first Jewish
Judaism
Judaism ) is the "religion, philosophy, and way of life" of the Jewish people...
Gymnasium
Gymnasium (school)
A gymnasium is a type of school providing secondary education in some parts of Europe, comparable to English grammar schools or sixth form colleges and U.S. college preparatory high schools. The word γυμνάσιον was used in Ancient Greece, meaning a locality for both physical and intellectual...
of Rhineland
Rhineland
Historically, the Rhinelands refers to a loosely-defined region embracing the land on either bank of the River Rhine in central Europe....
in Cologne
Cologne
Cologne is Germany's fourth-largest city , and is the largest city both in the Germany Federal State of North Rhine-Westphalia and within the Rhine-Ruhr Metropolitan Area, one of the major European metropolitan areas with more than ten million inhabitants.Cologne is located on both sides of the...
.
Life
Erich Klibansky, who came from a family of rabbiRabbi
In Judaism, a rabbi is a teacher of Torah. This title derives from the Hebrew word רבי , meaning "My Master" , which is the way a student would address a master of Torah...
s originally located in Lithuania
Lithuania
Lithuania , officially the Republic of Lithuania is a country in Northern Europe, the biggest of the three Baltic states. It is situated along the southeastern shore of the Baltic Sea, whereby to the west lie Sweden and Denmark...
near Kaunas
Kaunas
Kaunas is the second-largest city in Lithuania and has historically been a leading centre of Lithuanian economic, academic, and cultural life. Kaunas was the biggest city and the center of a powiat in Trakai Voivodeship of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania since 1413. During Russian Empire occupation...
, was born in Frankfurt am Main. His father directed there a known interdenominational boarding school, that also his son attended. Afterwards Klibansky attended the Frankfurt Goethe-Gymnasium and studied at university in Frankfurt am Main, Marburg
Marburg
Marburg is a city in the state of Hesse, Germany, on the River Lahn. It is the main town of the Marburg-Biedenkopf district and its population, as of March 2010, was 79,911.- Founding and early history :...
and Munich
Munich
Munich The city's motto is "" . Before 2006, it was "Weltstadt mit Herz" . Its native name, , is derived from the Old High German Munichen, meaning "by the monks' place". The city's name derives from the monks of the Benedictine order who founded the city; hence the monk depicted on the city's coat...
History
History
History is the discovery, collection, organization, and presentation of information about past events. History can also mean the period of time after writing was invented. Scholars who write about history are called historians...
, German studies
German studies
German studies is the field of humanities that researches, documents, and disseminates German language and literature in both its historic and present forms. Academic departments of German studies often include classes on German culture, German history, and German politics in addition to the...
and Romance studies
Romance studies
Romance studies is an umbrella academic discipline that covers the study of the languages, literatures, and cultures of areas that speak a Romance language. Romance studies departments usually include the study of Spanish, French, Italian, and Portuguese...
. He graduated in Marburg in 1925 with a thesis on “The topographic changes of the Frankfurt archbishop’s authorities in Hesse“.
From his marriage with Meta David from Hamburg came the three sons Hans-Raphael, Alexander and Michael. In the spring of 1929 the family relocated to Cologne, where he purchased a spacious apartment in a house in Volksgartenstraße.
Works
In the same year, as a probationary teacher, he became headmaster of the high school Jawne in CologneCologne
Cologne is Germany's fourth-largest city , and is the largest city both in the Germany Federal State of North Rhine-Westphalia and within the Rhine-Ruhr Metropolitan Area, one of the major European metropolitan areas with more than ten million inhabitants.Cologne is located on both sides of the...
, which had been created ten years before. Despite the hardships of the 1929 difficult incipient economic crisis, Klibansky succeeded to assure the school’s survival. As the school, being private, didn’t receive any subsidy
Subsidy
A subsidy is an assistance paid to a business or economic sector. Most subsidies are made by the government to producers or distributors in an industry to prevent the decline of that industry or an increase in the prices of its products or simply to encourage it to hire more labor A subsidy (also...
, he raised funds for reconstruction and renovation, so that with the school fee of 400 mark the operation of the school was assured.
Under Klibansky the school got a continuously growing level of esteem from the whole Jewish population of Cologne. After the Nazis took power in Germany in 1933 and with the growing discrimination
Discrimination
Discrimination is the prejudicial treatment of an individual based on their membership in a certain group or category. It involves the actual behaviors towards groups such as excluding or restricting members of one group from opportunities that are available to another group. The term began to be...
of the Jews of Cologne Klibanksy didn’t have many illusions concerning his future in Germany.
The salvation of his „English classes“
As a consequence of the increasing pressure on the Jews the Klibansky family had to leave at the end of 1937 their apartment in Volksgartenstraße, they moved in narrow rooms in Kamekestraße. In this period Klibansky conceived a plan to use the good language knowledge of his „English Classes“, that he prepared for the Cambridge Certificate of Proficiency, for an emigration to EnglandEngland
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
.
With the approval of the Central Reich Office for Emigration he found in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
support for his plan from important Jewish personalities. The Central British Council for Refugees arranged for the accommodation in a college for his students. Before the breakout of the war in 1939 he was able to send five classes for a total of 130 students to Great Britain, afterwards the borders were closed.
Assassination and Tribute
Erich Klibansky and his whole family were deported from Cologne in July 1942. During the transport to an unknown destination they were all shot in a wood near Blagowschtschin in the region of Minsk on a prepared pit.In 1990 a square in Cologne has been nominated to him: the Erich Klibansky Platz
Erich Klibansky Platz
The Erich Klibansky Platz in Cologne quarter Altstadt-Nord, located on Helenenstraße, takes the name of Erich Klibansky, the one-time and last headmaster of the Reformrealgymnasium Jawne. It took his name in 1990.- Location :...
.
Sources
- Adolf KoberAdolf KoberAdolf Kober was a rabbi and a historian.- Life :Kober studied History, Philosophy and Oriental Languages at the University of Wrocław and received a PhD there in 1903 with a thesis on the medieval history of the Jews in Cologne...
, Cologne,The Jewish Publication Society of America, Philadelphia 1940, p. 271-272 available online - Dieter Corbach: Die Jawne zu Köln: zur Geschichte des ersten jüdischen Gymnasiums im Rheinland und zum Gedächtnis an Erich Klibansky, 1900-1942. Scriba, Köln, 1990. ISBN 978-3-921232-42-2
- Ulrike Mast-Kirschning: Zwischen Dom und Davidstern, Jüdisches Leben in Köln. Verlag Kiepenheuer & Witsch, Köln, o.J. (2001) ISBN 978-3-462-03508-7
- Hans Thiel: Erich Klibansky - Germanist und Direktor der Jawne (1900-1942) In: Diskussion Deutsch, 23 (1992) 127, p. 493-503,