Mechernich

Residential - Mechernich, North Rhine-Westphalia

First Jewish presence: 17th century; peak Jewish population: 93 in 1931; Jewish population in 1933: approximately 90

The Jewish community of Mechernich consecrated a cemetery on Im Steinrausch in or around the year 1873 (it was twice desecrated). Local Jews built a synagogue on Rathergasse in 1883; in 1913, a mikveh was installed there. On Pogrom Night, SA men and local residents tried to level the synagogue with a tractor. The synagogue’s furniture and prayer books were set on fire, more than ten Jewish homes were destroyed and 12 Jewish men were sent to Sachsenhausen. We also know that of those sent to Sachsenhausen, at least one fled to Belgium after his release. The synagogue ruins were torn down in 1939. Several Mechernich Jews emigrated from or relocated within Germany. Approximately 27 Jews were deported in June and July 1942, and at least 55 perished in the Shoah. A memorial stone was erected on Rathergasse in 1988. In 2008, five small, brass memorial stones were affixed to the sidewalk in front of a former Jewish house at 12 Bahnstrasse.

Heidemarie Wawrzyn

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

Notes

Sources: Feuer in dein Heiligtum gelegt: Zerstörte Synagogen 1938 Nordrhein-Westfalen, Michael Brooke [Ed.], Meier Schwarz [foreword], [publisher] Kamp, 1999., Synagogen Internet Archiv, www.synagogen.info , Yad Vashem’s Central Database of Shoah Victims’ Names, www.yadvashem.org/wps/portal/IY_HON_Entrance www.hans-dieter-arntz.de www.mechernich.de/seiten/aktuelles/2008/09/StolpersteinAktion_Mechernich.php

Details

Date Added	Feb 27, 2020
Category	Residential
Country	DE
State	North Rhine-Westphalia
City	Mechernich
Exhibits	Pogrom Night 1938 - A Memorial to the Destroyed Synagogues of Germany

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Mechernich

First Jewish presence: 17th century; peak Jewish population: 93 in 1931; Jewish population in 1933: approximately 90

Heidemarie Wawrzyn

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

Notes

Details

Have additional information, photos, connections, or other resources to contribute?

Jason Guberman

Executive Director

Jason Guberman-P., A social entrepreneur who specializes in building broad coalitions and melding intellectual and technical innovation, serves as founding Executive Director of Digital Heritage Mapping and is the coordinator of the Diarna Geo-Museum of North African and Middle Eastern Jewish Life.

Joshua Shamsi

Project Director

Joshua Shamsi, is Project Director for the Atlas of Jewish Life and Lead Photographer/Outreach Director for the Diarna Geo-Museum of North African and Middle Eastern Jewish Life.

Eddie Ashkenazie

Researcher

Eddie Ashkenazie, is a Yeshiva University PhD student focusing his studies on the Jews of the Middle East and North Africa in the modern era.

Avital Hirsch

Avital Hirsch graduated Magna Cum Laude from Binghamton University with a BA in language and linguistics. She has studied in Rome at Istituto Lorenzo de Medici.

Glenn Dynner

Editor

Glenn Dynner. Professor of Religion, Sarah Lawrence College. BA, Brandeis University. MA, McGill University. PhD, Brandeis University. Scholar of East European Jewry with a focus on the social history of Hasidism and the Haskalah.

Chrystie Sherman

Photographer

Born in Chicago, Chrystie Sherman was educated at the University of Vermont, the University of Paris, and New York University Graduate School of Film and Television.

Gentian Xhaxiu

Researcher

Gentian Xhaxhiu, was born in Tirana, Albania, in April 1988. He has attained a Master Degree in “EU Business Law” and has successfully completed the Annual Programme of the School of Political Studies of the Council of Europe.