Jewish associations
In the 19th century, numerous Jewish associations were also founded in Wiesbaden, many of which pursued charitable purposes and were intended to alleviate specific hardships of the Jewish population. As the Jewish population was excluded from the public poor relief system, charitable associations served as a social network. The founding year of the oldest association, a pious brotherhood, is not known. Its tasks consisted of caring for the sick, supporting the dying and providing burial assistance. Originally, it also included Jews from Biebrich, Schierstein and Bierstadt, who formed a cemetery community together with the Wiesbadeners. When this fell apart, the government approved the founding of a burial association exclusively for members of the Wiesbaden community in 1847. The Abendgebet- oder Gutstiftgesellschaft für Krankenpflege, founded in 1820, could also look back on a considerable age. In 1831, an association for the support of the needy was founded, from which the Israelite Women's Sick Association emerged in 1847. At the suggestion of Abraham Geiger, the Men's Sick Society was founded in 1835, initially with 24 members, to provide mutual support in cases of illness; in 1837 it merged with the Evening Prayer Society. In 1836, Abraham Geiger initiated an association for the cultivation of synagogue singing, which initially ceased to exist after his departure from Wiesbaden in 1838. The founding of a singing society on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the Battle of Leipzig on October 18, 1863 provided new impetus. The synagogue singing society, which was formed shortly afterwards, began with 25 members, including two young Christian men. After lengthy efforts, in 1855 the Jewish community was allowed to found a support association for unfortunate Israelite spa guests who were not allowed to stay in the municipal hospital. This gave rise to the Israelite Support Association in 1871, which had almost 1,000 members in 1912.
Even after Jews were able to become members of "normal" civic associations in the last quarter of the 19th century, denominational associations continued to exist. The "Association of Jewish Women of Wiesbaden" was one of the largest in terms of membership and aimed to promote the existing charitable associations as well as the working lives of Jewish women and girls. The Israelite Orphans Support Fund, which was founded in 1885 by the district rabbi Dr. Michael Silberstein, pursued a charitable purpose; from 1920 it extended its activities to the entire former Duchy of Nassau. The Association for the Promotion of Crafts among Jews, founded in 1899, was also active throughout Nassau. Thanks to donations, an association for the establishment of an Israelite hospital and nurses' home was able to start its practical activities in 1912 with a home with four nurses. Before the First World War, the "Jüdischer Wanderbund Blau-Weiß" (Blue and White Jewish Hiking Association) was founded, which soon organized almost a third of all Jewish youth in Wiesbaden. Successor organizations were the "Deutsch-jüdische Wanderbund Kameraden" from 1927 and the "Schwarze Fähnlein" from 1933, which was led by Paul Mayer.
After the First World War, the local groups of the "Reichsbund jüdischer Frontsoldaten" and the "Zentralverein deutscher Staatsbürger jüdischen Glaubens" (Central Association of German Citizens of the Jewish Faith), which had taken up the cause of reducing prejudice against Jews, emerged with large memberships. The only Jewish handball league club in Germany was the "Hakoah Wiesbaden" sports club founded by Sally Friedrich Großhut in 1926. With a view to emigrating to Israel, Zionist groups such as the Jewish Orthodox youth association "Esra" as well as the "Brit Chaluzim Datiim" and a local group of the "Zionist Association for Germany" gained in popularity in the 1930s.
After Jewish clubs were banned and all other sports clubs were brought into line by the National Socialists, the Reichsbund Jüdischer Frontsoldaten (Reich Association of Jewish Frontline Soldiers) offered the only opportunity for organized sporting activity in its "Schild" sports section until the Reichspogromnacht.
Literature
Bembenek, Lothar: Sally Grosshut - Life and Fate of a Wiesbaden Writer. In: Grosshut, Sally: Schiedsrichter Rissing leitet ein Spiel, Wiesbaden 1984.
Kober, Adolf: The Jews in Nassau since the end of the 18th century. In: Nassauische Annalen 66/1955 [pp. 220-250].