Our light will outlast their flag.
Hanukkah in Kiel, Germany, 1932
"It was on a Friday afternoon right before Shabbat that this photo was taken. My grandmother realized that this was a historic photo, and she wrote on the back of the photo that ‘their flag wishes to see the death of Judah, but Judah will always survive, and our light will outlast their flag.’ My grandfather, the rabbi of the Kiel community, was making many speeches, both to Jews and Germans. To the Germans he warned that the road they were embarking on was not good for Jews or Germans, and to the Jews he warned that something terrible was brewing, and they would do well to leave Germany. My grandfather fled Germany in 1933, and moved to Israel. His community came to the train station to see him off, and before departed he urged his people to flee Germany while there’s still time.” -Yehudah Mansbuch
The photograph was taken by Rachel Posner who was the wife of Rabbi Dr. Akiva Posner, the last rabbi of Kiel, Germany. He served in the role from 1924 to 1933.
After seeing posters that read, "Entrance to Jews Forbidden," Posner wrote a letter to the press condemning them. The chairman of the local Nazi party branch summoned him to participate in a public debate under heavy police guard. He was allowed to speak his mind, but Posner already knew that it was too late. A month after the photo was taken, Adolf Hitler was appointed chancellor of Germany.
Posner's descendents continue to light Hanukkah candles on the same menorah you see in the photo above.
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