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Summary
The Israelite Institution for the Deaf in Germany was founded in 1873 by Markus Reich, a Bohemian-born Jewish man who recognized the need for a school that accommodated the Jewish Deaf Society. The school later influenced the founding of the first German secondary school for students. It was Markus’s belief that it was his duty to “preserve and plant in the hearts of the Jewish deaf the religion of their forefathers” and did so through his school. The Israelite Institution for the Deaf in Germany struggled financially but was able to relocate to Weissensee after receiving support from donors. By the end of 1911, the school had 45 students and 6 teachers.

Reich was one of the first Hearing deaf educators to incorporate signing wherever he believed it to be useful. It is said of him that he “fully mastered sign language and he never let himself be prevented from making use of it whenever he thought it was appropriate, including in teaching”. Reich’s family continued to be involved in the school even after his death and the enrollment eventually reached 227 deaf Jewish students. Many German educators believed in the success of the school and the institute also attracted deaf Jewish students from around the world. One of the most significant aspects of the Reich family’s work lies in the fact that learning oral language was not the main goal. The focused lied simply on “development of mind and spirit” and the school did not reject signing as a language.

WWI and WWII's Affects on the Institute
During the First World War, the number of students dropped and three teachers were drafted. This left the school in a dire state, particularly after the loss of the war and the devaluation of German currency. The school survived and enrollment eventually grew to over 227 students. In 1942, during Hitler’s time in power, the school, which had existed peacefully for over 50 years, was attacked, and 146 deaf Jewish individuals were pulled from the school and murdered. It is not known what became of the school after this.

Markus Reich
Markus Reich began his journey when he had met a deaf man who was educated, well brought up and could speak. So at age 21, in 1865 he left to Germany where he sought out to learn and become a teacher for the deaf. He studied at the Jewish Training College in Berlin, to fund his studies he became a private tutor. Then later he worked and studied at the Royal Institution for the deaf in Berlin, there he noticed that children were being admission especially for being Jewish. So he made a plan to make a Jewish institution for deaf children.

In, 1873 he founded the Israelite Institution for the deaf of Germany where he not only wanted to train them in language and school studies, but to teach them about their religion. Years after the institution had been founded, Reich still struggled financially to support his dream. He formed a support organization called “Friends of the Deaf” where the Jewish community joined together and provided funding. In 1890, Reich was able to relocate his school to Weissensee in Berlin.

In 1911, the institution had expanded with 45 students and Reich had hired two male and two female teacher. That same year he started rebuilding the institution in Weissensee that was supported by the association. However, Reich was not able to see his institution completed because he dies on May 23, 1911.

Emma Reich
In 1879, Markus Reich married Emma Maschke who was a trained kindergarten teacher and was fully in the service of the deaf-mute institute. They had three children that were deaf teachers and worked at the institution as well. After the death of Markus Reich, the boarding and care of the pupils further fell under the responsibility of Emma Reich. Emma lived from 1857 to 1931.

Felix Reich
In 1919 Felix Reich assumed the dictatorship, and committed to continuing in his father's spirit. He was able to overcome difficulties associated with Germany's post war inflation, thus ensuring the institution's survival.

In order to present the school’s educational success to the outside world, Reich authored numerous publications for the union of German teachers of the deaf. The Friends of the Deaf continued their support. In 1926 the association of former students of the institution established a publication, The link (das band), For former students. Reich also encouraged alumni to support interests of the Jewish Deaf with which a special fund and foundation, the Bloch and Meseritz foundation were associated. By the 1931-1932 school year, enrollment had reached an all time high of fifty-nine pupils.

The high quality of the educational training at the Jewish institution was evident in the results of the final vocational examinations of its former students and the fact that the schools examples let the Prussian state to open the first German secondary school for deaf students. German professionals in deaf education acknowledges the success of the Weissensee school in congratulatory speeches on the occasion of the school's fiftieth anniversary in October 1932. The institution also enjoyed positive students entering the school from other countries. Of the fifty five children enrolled in 1927, nineteen were deaf Jewish children from abroad.

Throughout its life, the institution set high goals for its students. In describing the school in 1930, Felix Reich wrote that “Instruction Scarcely differs from that of other institutions at the most that no definitive rejection of sign language was ever made and that the development of the mind and spirit, and not simply the acquisition of language was considered the greatest goal.’ The school also provided classes for gifted children and remedial instruction for those who needed it.