First Jewish presence: 18th century; peak Jewish population: 60 in 1907; Jewish population in 1933: 35
Alpen (North Rhine-Westphalia) – First Jewish presence: 18th century; peak Jewish population: 60 in 1907; Jewish population in 1933: 35 In 1714, Jews, all of whom were given letters of protection, settled in Alpen. Between 60 and 70 Jews (up to 8% of the total population) lived there in the 19th century, most earning their livings through trade. The community maintained a synagogue (inaugurated in 1880), a school, a mikveh and a cemetery, in which the oldest surviving tombstone is dated 1792. In 1933, only 35 Jews remained in Alpen, 17 of whom had left by Pogrom Night, when rioters set the synagogue on fire and wrecked Jewish homes. Nine Jews left Alpen soon after the pogrom, and we also know that 14 Alpen Jews managed to immigrate: six to Palestine, five to Brazil and three to South Africa. The remaining Jews were deported to the ghettos in Riga and Minsk in 1941 and 1942. Sixteen Alpen Jews perished in the Shoah.Moshe Aumann
Copyright: Pogrom Night 1938 - A Memorial to the Destroyed Synagogues of Germany/ Germansynagogues.com
Notes
Sources: The Encyclopedia of Jewish Life Before and During the Holocaust, Shmuel Spector [Ed.], [publisher] Yad Vashem and the New York University Press, 2001., Lexikon der jüdischen Gemeinde in Deutschen Sprachraum, Klaus Dieter-Alicke, [publisher] Gütersloher Verlagshaus, 2008., Feuer in dein Heiligtum gelegt: Zerstörte Synagogen 1938 Nordrhein-Westfalen, Michael Brooke [Ed.], Meier Schwarz [foreword], [publisher] Kamp, 1999.
Details
| Date Added | Feb 06, 2020 |
|---|---|
| Category | Residential |
| Country | DE |
| State | Noth Rhine-Westphalia |
| City | Alpen |
| Exhibits | Pogrom Night 1938 - A Memorial to the Destroyed Synagogues of Germany |
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