GERMANY. 'Drittes Reich'. 1933-1945. Cast Medal 1937 (Tin, 97 mm, 123.36 g, 12 h), on the 100th anniversary of the death of Rabbi Akiba Eger (1761-1837), issued by the Fundraising Association of the Jewish Community of Berlin. צורת רשכבה״ג עבד לעבדי ד׳ ר׳ עקיבא איגר זצ״ל • אב״ד דק״ק פוזנא לזכרון יום פטירתו י״ג תשרי שנת תקצ״ח לפ״ק ('Portrait of the master of all the Diaspora, servant of the servants of God, Rabbi Akiba Eger, of blessed memory, head of the rabbinical court of the holy congregation of Posen; in memory of the day of his passing, 13 Tishrei 5598 [12 October 1837]' in Hebrew) Draped and capped bust of Akiba Eger facing slightly to right. Rev. DEM GESEGNETEN ANDENKEN / RABBI / AKIBA / EGERS / ZUR 100. WIEDERKEHR SEINES TODESTAGES / AUFBRINGUNGSWERK JÜDISCHE GEMEINDE BERLIN 18•9•1937 in six lines; above, crowned tablets of the Law depicting the Ten Commandments, flanked by two lions; below them, דרש ר׳ עקיבא זה כלל גדול בתורה ('Rabbi Akiva taught: This is a great principle of the Torah' in Hebrew). Extremely rare and of great historical importance. Very minor corrosion on the obverse, otherwise, extremely fine.


This extremely rare medal is a remarkable and poignant testament to Jewish medallic art in Nazi Germany, issued in 1937, just one year before the November Pogroms of 1938. It honors Akiba Eger (1761-1837), the eminent rabbi of Märkisch Friedland and later Posen, who was widely regarded as one of the foremost Talmudic authorities of his age. Eger also advocated for the emancipation of the Jews and established a number of charitable institutions.

The ‘Aufbringungswerk der Jüdischen Gemeinde zu Berlin’, which issued this medal, was not an independent Jewish organization, but rather a fundraising office established by the Berlin Jewish Community in 1934 to finance its rapidly expanding social-welfare activities under Nazi rule. Following the Nazi seizure of power in 1933, systematic disenfranchisement, professional bans, and economic exclusion left ever-growing numbers of Berlin's Jews dependent on assistance from their own community. In addition to publishing brochures and other materials, the Aufbringungswerk raised funds through the sale of medals, among them the present piece. It was headed by Rabbi Dr. Martin Salomonski (1881-1944), who remained in this position until his deportation to Theresienstadt in 1942 and was later murdered in Auschwitz. The medal thus survives as a poignant material witness to Jewish cultural and communal life at a time when Germany's Jews were already being systematically stripped of their rights and livelihoods.

The Hebrew inscription beneath the Tablets of the Ten Commandments creates a deliberate connection between the ancient Rabbi Akiva (circa 50/55-135 CE) – one of the Ten Martyrs, traditionally said to have been executed under Emperor Hadrian – and Rabbi Akiba Eger, whose portrait appears on the obverse. It alludes to Rabbi Akiva's celebrated interpretation of Leviticus 19:18: ואהבת לרעך כמוך — רבי עקיבא אומר זה כלל גדול בתורה (‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself - Rabbi Akiva says: This is a great principle of the Torah’ in Hebrew). Few quotations could have stood in more bitter contrast to the reality confronting Berlin's Jewish community in 1937.