“Shanah Tovah” leaf and appeal for support for the Jewish Institute for the Deaf-Mute – Israelitische Taubstummen-Anstalt für Deutschland zu Berlin-Weißensee – the Jewish Institute for the Deaf-Mute in Germany, located in Berlin-Weißensee. Berlin, C. 1920s. Extremely rare.
At the top left appears the verse from Proverbs 31: “Open your mouth for the mute” in Hebrew, alongside an illustration of a boy with the words emerging from his mouth: “Teach us to speak!” followed by: “Make us whole human beings! We, the deaf-mute children, plead with you. Do not close your ears—open your hand for the mouth of the mute.” A Hebrew Shanah Tovah greeting is also printed. At the center of the poster are printed signatures of numerous board members – German-Jewish rabbis, physicians, and public figures. There is also a photograph showing a caregiver at the institution assisting a deaf-mute child in learning to speak. At the bottom: a payment slip for membership in the association, processed through “Gebrüder Ginzberg” (Ginzberg Brothers) in Berlin.
The Jewish Institute for the Deaf-Mute in Germany, Israelitische Taubstummenanstalt (ITA), was founded in 1873 by the Jewish educator Markus Reich in Fürstenwalde, initially as a pilot program in his own apartment with just seven students. In 1884, the supporting organization Jedide Ilmim (“Friends of the Deaf-Mute”) was established, assuming responsibility for the institute’s operations and expanding its activities to include professional, occupational, and social support for the deaf community. Due to increasing demand, the institute relocated in 1890 to its new premises at 22 Parkstrasse in Weißensee—then a suburban town and later a district of Berlin—where a large, spacious building was constructed for dozens of students and their teachers. In the early decades of the 20th century, the institute became one of the most advanced of its kind in Germany and promoted a unique vision: to regard deaf-mute children as a cultural minority with their own language and identity, rather than as “disabled.” Under the leadership of the founder’s son, Felix Reich, the institution expanded further to include a kindergarten, a boarding school, and preparatory programs for higher education in scientific and technical fields. In 1932, the institute served as a central filming location for the documentary Verkannte Menschen (“Misjudged People”), which portrayed the lives of the deaf.
With the rise of the Nazis to power in 1933, a tragic period of decline began: Felix Reich was expelled from the professional union of teachers for the deaf, public funding was slashed, and the Law for the Prevention of Genetically Diseased Offspring placed the institute’s students at risk of forced sterilization. In 1938, the institute was renamed “Jewish School for the Deaf, ” and the day after Kristallnacht, Felix Reich was arrested and imprisoned in Sachsenhausen. In 1939, he managed to send ten children to London via the Kindertransport, but the remaining children were left behind. The institute continued operating on a limited scale until 1942, when it was shut down following a general order to close all Jewish schools in Berlin. Most of the children and staff were deported and murdered in extermination camps.
After the war, the building was used by the local administration of Weißensee and later by the communist government of East Berlin. Following German reunification in 1990, it was transferred to the Stephanus Foundation. In 2001, a memorial plaque was installed on the building bearing the verse: “Open your mouth for the mute” (Proverbs 31:8). Across from the building, a Stolperstein (stumbling stone) was placed in memory of Johanna Berg, one of the institute’s children, as a symbol of all the victims erased along with this once-proud Jewish school.
[1] leaf. 37×23 cm. Fold mark on right side. Good condition.
