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So it happened, that Joseph Strauss, too, was sent to jail at Huenfeld; however due to illness he was not hauled off to the

KZ Buchenwald. The medical officer had attested to his being unfit for custodial sentence, whereupon he was released the following day, which was a Friday. Alfred Strauss has vivid memories of these days:

”My grandpa had brought me back from Kassel to Huenfeld again, but I still witnessed the Synagogue being ablaze. That fire is embossed into my memory. I’m still aware of how dramatic everything was. My dad had been arrested, and he was lucky, that he wasn’t deported to Buchenwald. He was in the slammer at city hall, but not for long, since I remember

that we had supper on Friday night, and my dad was with us

at table. I even recall, that he was very flustered when he

came back from jail on that Friday. This particular evening will always be part of my memory: how dad recited Kiddush with a broken voice. My dad was very depressed because of

all these experiences. The Synagogue was a matter close to

his heart, and at the time he was the chairman of the council

of the Jewish congregation. Later on he told me, that he

rushed to the Synagogue to save the Torah Scrolls, but there wasn’t anything he could have done anymore.”