Salzwedel

First Jewish presence: early 14th century; peak Jewish population: 103 in 1840; Jewish population in 1933: 64

It was not until the early 19th century that a continuous Jewish presence was established in Salzwedel. The community’s prayer room—it was located in a private residence—was destroyed by fire in 1856. Later, at the end of the 19th century, a small synagogue was inaugurated at 27 am Lohteich. We also know that local Jews maintained two cemeteries: one, the older of the two, was located in a small forest between Brietz and Cheine; the other, built in 1850, was on presentday Lueneberger Strasse. In 1932/33, the leaders of the Salzwedel community, with which the Jews of Luechow were affiliated, were Hermann Bacharach, Louis Jacoby and Leon Stiefel. On Pogrom Night (November 1938), SA men destroyed the interior of the prayer room, wrecked the cemetery and plundered the few remaining Jewish-owned businesses, the last of which had all been “aryanized” by year’s end. The remaining Jews were eventually moved into two houses—27 Lohteich and 2 Altperverstrasse—from which they were moved, in 1941, to a barracks located on the outskirts of town. Finally, in the spring of 1942, the remaining Jews were deported to the Warsaw Ghetto. Three local Jews, all of whom were married to Christians, survived the war in Salzwedel. At least 34 Salzwedel Jews perished in the Shoah. Both Jewish cemeteries still exist, but it is only in the newer one that one can find intact headstones. The former prayer room is now a residence.

Esther Sarah Evans

Copyright: Pogrom Night 1938 - A Memorial to the Destroyed Synagogues of Germany/ Germansynagogues.com

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