Minden

First Jewish presence: 1270; peak Jewish population: 267 in 1880; Jewish population in 1933: 192

Beginning in 1650 at the latest, the Minden Jewish community conducted prayer services in rented prayer rooms. In 1680, a synagogue was inaugurated at 494 Griesenbruchstrasse (present-day 1 Videnbullenstrasse); and in 1865, an impressive synagogue was erected at 6 Kampstrasse, where services were conducted in German and accompanied by organ music. Burials were conducted in a neighboring village before 1700, after which a Jewish cemetery was consecrated just outside Marien Gate; in 1890, after the cemetery was closed to make room for a fortress, new burial grounds were chosen in Erikaweg. The community developed into a prosperous one, and the fact that Jews held official positions in the town periodically sparked anti-Semitic incidents. Minden Jews maintained a sisterhood, a chevra kadisha and a children’s library. Children attended the local elementary school and the Jewish youth movement. On Pogrom Night, as firemen stood ready to protect the neighboring houses, Minden’s synagogue was set on fire; the flames devoured the interior, but not before 14 Torah scrolls, silverware and an Elijah’s Chair made in 1720 were stolen. Stores and homes were ransacked, and 60 Jewish men were sent to Buchenwald. Jewish-owned properties were forcibly sold after the pogrom, and the synagogue ruins were torn down. Later, all remaining Jews (most were elderly) were deported, via Bielefeld, to Warsaw, Riga and Theresienstadt. In 1945, approximately 100 Jews formed a new congregation. Minden’s new synagogue, built near the site of the destroyed house of worship, contains a memorial bearing the names of all Shoah victims from Minden. An additional memorial was unveiled in front of the city hall. Franz Boas, the renowned German-American anthropologist and activist, was born in Minden.

Ruth Martina Trucks

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

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