NEWS

Wiesbaden: A Posh Spa Resort Welcomes Russian Jews

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by by Ruth Rovner

With its well-tended parks and gardens, its scenic promenades, and its 26 hot springs, Wiesbaden is one of Germany's top spa resorts.

This tranquil city just 25 miles south of Frankfurt is also an important culture center, with a performing arts center that is the site of concerts, plays and international conferences.

Spa Park is another attraction: a lush expanse of green with a lake surrounded by leafy trees. In the evenings, with the lights of the spa and fountain reflected in the water, the effect is almost magical.

Less well known is the fact that this spa resort also has a small but active Jewish community, one which illustrates the way German Jewish life is thriving not only in major cities but in less likely places like a posh spa resort.

What's more, this small town has extended an especially warm welcome to the Russian Jews who have settled here. They, in turn, have had a dramatic effect on this community.

All this made me eager to return to Wiesbaden (pronounced WEESE-BAHDEN) on a recent trip to Germany. From the train station, it was just a short bus ride to the center of town, where the Jewish community is located at No. 33 Friedrichstrasse.

After being buzzed in at the entry gate, I walked through a pleasant courtyard and admired again the white building with tall blue stained glass windows. This post-war synagogue, dedicated in l966, is on the same site where a small Orthodox synagogue had been destroyed by the Nazis, who also ravaged the city's main synagogue. . But a pillar from that synagogue survived the destruction and now stands in the courtyard as a memorial.

The three-story modern Jewish Community Center adjoins the synagogue. Upstairs, the main office was bustling with activity. Susan Pringsheim, the JCC administrator, was at her desk and on the phone, just as busy as she was on my first visit two years ago.

The community she supervises sponsors a wide range of activities: meetings, social gatherings (there's a social hall with its own kosher kitchen), and a religious school which youngsters attend three times a week. There's also a library with upwards of 3000 books.

And every Shabbat, cantor Avigdor Zuker leads services. Afterwards, there's a kiddush for congregants and for the visitors who often find their way to the shul in this resort town.

A major focus of the JCC is serving the needs of the Russian emigres. Until they began coming in l990, the post-war community numbered only 300. Now that number tops 450 and it's still growing. More than half the members are Russians.

That's why one of the most active social groups is the Russian club, whose members come once a week to read Russian newspapers, play cards, watch Russian films on the VCR, and simply enjoy socializing with one another.

Many more come into the JCC office on Tuesdays and Thursdays, when Anatoly Pournik is there to offer all-around assistance. A St. Petersburg native who emigrated in l99l, he is a social worker and translator for the Russian Jews of Wiesbaden.

"We try to reach out and do everything we can for them," said Pournik. And there is much to do, especially because many of the emigres, especially the older ones, do not know any German when they arrive. Pournik signs them up promptly for German language courses, and in the meantime, assists with numerous tasks, from filling out forms in German to making phone calls.

When he's not in the JCC office, he's driving around or visiting the Russian Jews in their homes, helping with everything from finding the right housing (for the first several months, they get free accommodations in a hostel provided by the city) to taking them shopping or on various errands.

He even accompanied one woman when she visited her gynecologist. "My face was so red!" he confessed. But the woman could speak no German, and the doctor spoke no Russian, so he had to be present to translate.

Of course, younger people often pick up the language much more

quickly. The Russians in Wiesbaden now range in age from infants to those in their 80s. Since the influx from Russia began in l990, there have been twenty births and ten bar mitzvahs.

Pournik knows all of them, young and old. "Our community is close-knit and very friendly," he said. "And because we're a small community, we can give more individual attention."

The social worker himself is friendly and informal, dressed in blue jeans and tee-shirt reading "NYC". He never expected to be living and working in a German spa town when he first thought about emigrating. Instead, he applied for visas to English-speaking countries- to the U.S., Australia, New Zealand, Canada and South Africa. "All in vain," he recalled.

Then a friend told him about Germany's liberal immigration policy for Russian Jews. "He said,'All you have to do is bring a birth certificate that says you're Jewish,'" related Pournik.

He'd never even been to Germany. But he spoke the language

fluently- had even taught German- so he decided to give Germany a try. He first came alone, without his family, and settled in Wiesbaden, which his friend had also recommended. "It was a brand new place, and I felt like a pioneer,"he recalled.

Three months later, having decided to stay, his wife and sons joined him. Then his sister and her son emigrated, too, and still later, his parents as well. All of them are grateful to be here.

"Compared to what we had in Russia, this is so much better" he said emphatically. "We feel safe here, and that's the first priority. And the living standards are much higher."

In Russia, he never could have imagined living in a spacious two bedroom apartment with a VCR, dishwasher, and other amenities- and having a car besides.

He's also had the chance to travel extensively. He's been to Israel, Tunisia, and the U.S., where he drove a rental car from New York all the way to the Florida Keys. "I could never dream of doing that in Russia," he said. "Here, I'm a free man. And the feeling of freedom is the best thing."

But not everyone understands. Israelis he's met always ask, "How can you live in Germany?" But he and his family, like many other Russian Jews who have settled here, feel very comfortable in Germany.

"In Russia, there's much more chance to have a new Hitler than in Germany," he observed. "And we don't feel any anti-Semitism here. So we're very glad we made the move and came to live here." ###

--The Wiesbaden JCC and synagogue are at Friedrichstrasse 33, phone 06l2l-30l870.

--Especially convenient to Wiesbaden is the fully modern Sheraton Frankfurt hotel at the airport. From there, it's just a 20 minute train ride to Wiesbaden- and Frankfurt is equally accessible.

---Lufthansa German Airlines flies non-stop from major gateway cities to Frankfurt.