301 E. Jefferson Street, Charlottesville
Charlottesville saw a number of German Jewish immigrants establish roots here in the mid-19th century as part of a larger movement by Germans of many faiths to emigrate to America amidst political and economic turmoil at home.
In 1870, German Jewish merchants Isaac Leterman and Bernard Oberdofer purchased property to create a Jewish cemetery on behalf of the Charlottesville Hebrew Benevolent Society. That society began holding meetings as Congregation Beth Israel in 1882. The congregation built the original synagogue at the corner of Market and Church (now Second) Streets in 1883. In 1902, the U.S. government requested that Congregation Beth Israel sell that land so that a post office (now a library) could be erected. Work began on the present-day synagogue in 1903.
On August 11-12, 2017, white supremacists gathered in Charlottesville to protest City Council’s decision to remove the city’s prominent confederate statues. On the evening of August 11, a group marched across the University of Virginia grounds chanting racist and anti-Semitic slogans. Prominent white supremacist, Holocaust denier, and UVA alumnus Richard Spencer was part of this group. The next morning, armed white supremacists wearing military fatigues and carrying semi-automatic weapons loitered outside of Congregation Beth Israel as worshippers gathered for Shabbat prayers. The congregation had requested that a city police officer be posted at the synagogue that morning to protect worshippers as it was well-known that the groups included violent neo-Nazi leaders. The police refused this request, and instead the congregation hired a private security guard.
With forty congregants inside, groups parading by shouted anti-Semitic slogans, performed Nazi salutes, and loudly pointed out the location of the synagogue. Some carried flags with swastikas and other Nazi symbols alongside confederate ones. Like the previous night, groups chanted “Jews will not replace us,” recreated scenes from Nazi propaganda films, and wore shirts displaying Adolf Hitler quotes.
After services, Beth Israel’s worshippers left in small groups from a back exit to avoid detection. Later, they learned that websites affiliated with white supremacist groups in attendance called on rally goers to burn the synagogue. That afternoon, a vicious car attack that killed counterprotestor Heather Heyer occurred two hundred feet from the building.
To learn more:
- Nelson, Louis and Claudrena Harold, eds. Charlottesville 2017: The Legacy of Race and Inequity. Charlottesville: University of Virginia Press, 2018.
- Urofsky, Melvin. Commonwealth and Community: The Jewish Experience in Virginia. Richmond: Virginia Historical Society, 1997.
Image: Congregation Beth Israel. Courtesy of Kim Lee Schmidt, 2020.