STRAUBING, Germany –
The Straubing synagogue hosted a ceremony May 18, 2025, commemorating the 80th anniversary of a post-World War II Jewish service led by a U.S. Army rabbi chaplain.
In 1945, nearly 700 persons displaced from concentration camps gathered in front of the Straubing synagogue in one of the first German Jewish services following the war.
Maj. Aaron Gaber, a Jewish chaplain with the 56th Stryker Brigade Combat Team who is deployed to Germany in support of the Joint Multinational Training Group-Ukraine mission, attended Sunday's commemoration ceremony as a guest of honor in recognition of the U.S. Army rabbi who led the service 80 years ago.
Hundreds of individuals gathered along the sidewalk and city street to attend the commemoration ceremony. Several officials shared remarks, including Markus Pannermayr, the mayor of Straubing; Ilse Danziger with the Bavarian State Association of the Israeli Community of Straubing and the Central Council of Jews in Germany; Christian Bernreiter, Bavarian State Minister for Housing, Construction and Transport; Dr. Ludwig Spaenle, Anti-Semitism Commissioner of the Bavarian State Government; and retired pastor Hasso von Winning.
Rabbi Mendel Muraiti led an afternoon Mincha prayer service and recited the memorial prayer in memory of the dead.
“Today was an amazing opportunity for several hundred people of different backgrounds and faiths to stand together demonstrating a future filled with love and hope for each other,” said Gaber. “It was particularly meaningful to me that they ended the program singing Bob Dylan’s ‘Blowin’ in the Wind,’ representing peace and friendship, if we work together to make it happen. I can’t help but be hopeful for the future of the Jewish community and the world when we stand together.”