NORWICH – The Norwich Jewish Center held a restoration celebration at its South Broad Street location in the City of Norwich on Sunday, Oct. 6. The center – a one-of-a-kind staple in the community - was vandalized by three local youths in April of 2008. After a lengthy restoration process, the building is back to functioning capacity, thanks to the hard work of both area residents and people from afar.
“What occurred in this beautiful building five years ago was tragic in several senses,” said James Fertig. “It was a tragedy in material damage, but also in human terms.”
According to Fertig, this community had become a refuge to Holocaust refugees and survivors, many of whom have since passed away. Members of the community remain who had lost family members in Auschwitz or other death camps in the 1930s and 1940s in Europe.
The crime of 2008 was investigated by a various law enforcement agencies, including the FBI, and it had to be determined if the vandalism was indeed a “hate crime.”
“We know what anti-Semitism is, and we know what a hate crime is,” Fertig stated. “It was a tragedy which cost hundreds of thousands of dollars to repair. Yet, each boy was directed to pay no more than $2,000 – and not all paid it – and nothing was done about it. It was a tragedy that the boys were away from home for only a short time, yet not in any jail, and not even withheld from most school activities for any meaningful time. We know anti-Semitism when we see it.”
At the restoration celebration, Fertig noted there were many who would not let what happened destroy the community. “Norwich and it’s surroundings is a tightly knit community of people who know right from wrong,” he said.
Gratitude was extended to not only the local community that helped out, but also to those from other areas, including a number of individuals from Syracuse University who were in attendance on Sunday.
“It is with much humility that I thank all those who gave funding, time, sweat, knowledge and encouragement to us,” said Fertig.
Professor Harvey Teres of Syracuse University was instrumental in the process of the restoration, Fertig added. “Syracuse University was instrumental in seeding our restoration effort. Harvey became my brother and my friend. His abilities, eloquence, and high regard in the academic, religious, and general Syracuse community opened many doors for us over the past several years, culminating with this event.”
The historic building – previously the home of the prominent Eaton family of Norwich – needed years of work in order to return to functional capacity, as nearly every piece of glass was smashed and many artifacts ruined. A vile phrase was scrawled across the blackboard. At the celebration Sunday, the blackboard read, “Hope!” – a welcomed change from what it read five years ago.
Fertig shared that the center has plans to sustain and improve, to make the building even more useful to the community.
Said Fertig, “We look to the future.”