Sonics of their Living: The Reichenbachstraße Synagogue
2-channel sound installation
18:45 min.
2026
Artist: Talya Feldman
Sound Design: Carlos Ángel Luppi
Featuring: Mischa Ushakov, Elyana Feldman, Rebecca Schwartz, Rachel Spicker
Research Support: Rabbi Rebecca Blady, Sapir von Abel
A sonic history of the Reichenbachstraße Synagogue in Munich, from its first inauguration in 1931 to its most recent revival in 2025. A collage of news reports, re-imagined speeches, interviews, memorials, choral music, and prayers.
A tribute to Jewish grief, joy, devotion, and life.
AUDIO GUIDE (English)
(01:14) Dr. Neumeyer
Performed by Mischa Ushakov, 2026
The inauguration of the new Eastern Jewish synagogue on September 5, 1931
Bavarian Israelite Community Newspaper
September 15, 1931
“May this house be a place of genuine devotion and true fear of God. May the house serve as an example of charitable sentiment and the most faithful willingness to make sacrifices. May the peace of the heart and the world hover over this house for all time!”
(04:51) Ma Tovu
Composer Louis Lewandowski (1821–1894)
Performed by Basel Synagogue Choir Zurich Synagogue Choir
Strasbourg Synagogue Choir
Soloist Ron Epstein
Conductor Rémi Studer
Organ Hector Sabo
Chazanut Concert, Riehen/Basel (Switzerland)
November 20, 2016
(07:29) Yitgadal
MOTL 2023 Mourner’s Kaddish Shai Abramson and
Auschwitz survivor Arie Pinsker
International March of the Living
April 18, 2023
(08:29) Dveykut (Cleaving)
Performed by: Elyana Feldman, Rebecca Schwartz, Talya Feldman, 2026
(09:44) Inauguration of the Synagogue
Produced by Universal News
Munich, May 22, 1947 [English, German]
United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, Washington, D.C. (Steven Spielberg Film and Video Archive)
“In Munich, the rebuilt synagogue of the Jewish community was ceremoniously inaugurated. The presence of General Clay and many other officials underscored the significance of the day. The ceremony centered on a speech by the general, who expressed his hope that a new era of goodwill and mutual understanding would begin. General Clay also conveyed the congratulations of the entire American people and his army. During the religious ceremonies, a plaque was unveiled in memory of the 6 million victims who died for their faith. As a result of Nazi terror measures, 582,000 of the former 600,000 German Jews, or 97 percent, lost their lives."
(11:11) VaYehi Binsoa Ha’aron
The Sasonkin Brothers Choir
© 1993-2026 Chabad-Lubavitch Media Center
(12:26) Max Meir Blum, Rivka Regina Becher, Leopold Arie Leib Gimpel, David Jakubowicz, Siegfried Offenbacher, Georg Eljakim Pfau, Rosa Drucker
Recited by Rachel Spicker, 2026
(12:42) Anti-Semitic arson attack in Munich 50 years ago
Tobias Krone
Deutschlandfunk Kultur
February 11, 2020
“Fifty years ago, an arson attack was carried out on a residential home belonging to the Jewish Community in Munich. Seven Holocaust survivors died. The case remains unsolved to this day. The victims are now being commemorated in an unusual way.”
(13:33) Yitgadal
Mourner’s Kaddish @ Union Square Vigil For #TreeOfLifeSynagogue Massacre
Sandi Bachom
October 27, 2018
(14:41) Mendelssohn: Songs Without Words
Arranged and edited by Constatin Von Sternberg
G. Schirmer
Publication: 1915
Use: Public Domain Mark 1.0
Internet Archive
January 27, 2023
(15:39) The Reichenbachstraße Synagogue
Interview with Rachel Salamander
Documentaries & Reports on Bavarian Broadcasting
December 21, 2025
"We cannot credibly lament the losses caused by National Socialism and at the same time leave a pre-war synagogue that survived the furor of Kristallnacht and the bombing campaign to decay. It is a scandal of history that those who caused the disaster have remained collectively silent…it is in the interest of the citizens of Munich, it is in the interest of Germany, it is of national interest far beyond Germany that such an architectural gem be restored.
...to give it back to the world and give a voice to the people who built it back then. These are the things that move me. Every time I come in here."