Horn-Meinberg

First Jewish presence: 16th century; peak Jewish population: 72 in 1855; Jewish population in 1932/33: 21

The first reliable record of a Jewish presence in Horn is from the early 16th century (after 1510). Jews were expelled from Horn twice—once on Christmas Day in the year 1511, and again in the early 17th century—and it was not until the late 1600s that local Jews received permission to conduct services in private residences. In August 1857, the community inaugurated a synagogue—the building accommodated a women’s gallery—at 29a Burgstrasse. Other communal institutions included a Jewish school (located next to the synagogue) and a cemetery on Paderborner Strasse (1850-1939). Although only 21 Jews lived in Horn in 1932/33, the Reka Hirschfeld foundation continued to conduct welfare work. Adolf Hitler delivered a speech in Horn’s marketplace in January 1933, after which a plaque was affixed to the city hall in his honor. On Pogrom Night, SA and SS men torched the synagogue’s interior and ritual objects; according to eye-witnesses, SS and SA men played soccer with the Torah scrolls. Jewish homes and stores were damaged, a Jewish woman was fatally injured and local Jewish men were taken to Buchenwald, one of whom died after his release. Later, in 1939, the damaged synagogue building was sold and converted into a workshop and apartment. Several local Jews emigrated from or relocated within Germany. Five Jews were deported in 1942. At least 54 Horn Jews perished in the Shoah. A memorial plaque, unveiled at the site of the former Jewish school, commemorates the synagogue.

Heidemarie Wawrzyn

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

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