Niedermarsberg

First Jewish presence: 17th century; peak Jewish population: 162 in 1865; Jewish population in 1933: 93

Records from 1672 indicate that five Jewish families lived in Niedermarsberg that year. The modern Jewish community inaugurated a synagogue in, at the latest, 1844. That house of worship burned down in 1849, and a new synagogue building was inaugurated at 18 Im Weist in October 1856. Other communal institutions included a Jewish school, founded before 1820, that became an elementary school in 1863; the school was moved to Paulinenstrasse in 1904 and closed in 1934. In Niedermarsberg, a cemetery was consecrated on In der Hamecke in 1875 or 1885 (sources of information differ); both sources agree that the burial grounds were closed in 1948. In 1933, Niedermarsberg was home to 93 Jews. A teacher/chazzan instructed 14 schoolchildren at the Jewish elementary school and 14 at a secondary school. Two welfare organizations—and Israelite men’s association and one for women—saw to the needs of the poor. On Pogrom Night (November 1938), SS troops from Arolsen destroyed the synagogue, throwing furniture and ritual objects into a nearby water source; they did not, however, manage to burn down the building. The synagogue was sold after Pogrom Night and converted into a storeroom. Approximately half of all local Jews emigrated from Germany before the pogrom; the others left in 1939. Twenty-four Jews from Niedermarsberg and the neighboring communities were deported in 1942/43. At least 36 local Jews perished in the Shoah. Today, the former synagogue houses a discotheque, opposite which a memorial plaque was unveiled in 2003. In 2009, memorial stumbling stones were unveiled in Niedermarsberg.

Heidemarie Wawrzyn

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

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