Cemetery
The following was provided by Pastors Michael Domke and Wolfram Schulz, describing their work to preserve and restore the cemetery and to commemorate all those who were lost in the Nazi persecutions.
The Jewish cemetery in Guben
In 1839, the small Jewish municipality bought the area on the hill at the Neissetal outside of the city boundary at that time, in order to put on a cemetery. About 1911 the "house of loving allowance" built for the practice of the last affectionate actions at the deceased before their funeral. This house is also the dwelling of a cemetery gardner. After they had devastated the synagog at the Kastaniengraben in the vicinity of Lubst, the Nazis seized the cemetery from the Jewish community and conveyed it to the town of Reichenbach. The Evangelical Church organization arranged in 1951 to lease the property from the federation of Jewish communities. Since then the local Evangelical church uses the mountain chapel for services and maintains the cemetery building. In 1992 a star of David wasagain placed on the chapel dome, and in 1994 the monuments in the east and northeast sections were restored. Together we preserve the memories of this good place.
Michael Domke
Isaiah 44:6,21 (NIV)
"This is what the LORD says-
Israel's King and Redeemer, the LORD Almighty:
I am the first and I am the last;
apart from me there is no God.
O Israel, I will not forget you.
The Hebrew abbreviation at the end of the Hebrew writing on the eastern side is called translated: "your souls are bound up in the bonds of life." and is based on 1. Samuel 25,29.
The Memorial Stone
The Memorial Stone was sketched and manufactured by the stone-cutter Joerg Glockann from Guben on behalf of the city Evangelical church. The writing and design was sketched by Wolfram Schulz. Michael Domke translated the text into the Hebrew. The inscription on the eastern side of the intending unity: DRIVEN OUT, KIDNAPPED, MURDERED, (dedicated) TO THE JEWISH CITIZENS OF GUBEN WHO DO NOT REST IN THIS PLACE.
The Memorial Stone
At Guben's "good place", at which over one century Guben Jews found their last resting place, this memorial is now erected for our Jewish fellow citizens, for whom - pursued, driven out, kidnapped, murdered - there is no resting place here. The memorial stone designates at the same time the place, where the last burial of Jewish fellow citizens probably occurred, for whom no gravestone could be set. This was after the Nazi regime had also violated the synagogue in Guben and robbed the property from the Jewish municipality - including this good place. This stone is probably the location of the burial of Dr. Ernst Kaplan, born 2.4.1897, died 7.12.1941.
As the Prophet Isaiah says, the LORD is the first and the last, apart from whom there is no God, to whose servant Israel the LORD will be true.
Even if people who are not Jews trust in this loyalty of God, they must respect His promise to the people of Israel. When Christians reject this, they are boasting, as the Apostle Paul says, of the "grafted branches" as over the root that carries them (Romans 11,17+18).
As Christians, after the unspeakable crime to the people of Israel - along with culpable silence, our church may celebrate services at this good place. Let us be reminded by this Memorial with its special message that the LORD, in whom we may believe for Jesus' sake, stands with His people Israel, with whom we are also connected through God's promise.
Wolfram Schulz
[Rough translation by Google, ME, and DF. Corrections solicited!]