Kleiststr. 10/11

The Association of Russian Jews, founded in 1920, had its main office not far from today's Urania, an educational center in the heart of Berlin. Under the chairmanship of Jacob Teitel (1850–1939), the organization helped needy Jewish refugees from Russia to establish a new life in Germany.

Among other things, the association provided job placement services, interest-free loans, and medical, legal, and social support.

Furthermore, it held weekly meetings in the lodge of the German Jewish B’nai B’rith organization on Kleiststrasse. It also organized lectures, film evenings, dances, and discussion groups.

Teitel published his memoirs in German in 1929. They describe the path he took in life, particularly his experiences as a judge in Russia, and his charity work in Germany. Teitel embodied the hope of full Jewish emancipation in Russia, but as his decision to emigrate in 1921 showed, the expectations for equality raised by the Russian Revolution were not fulfilled under Bolshevik rule.

A new edition of his memoirs From My Life’s Work: Memoirs of a Jewish Judge in Old Russia was published in 1999.