Nieheim
First Jewish presence: in or around the 1648; peak Jewish population: 150 in 1871; Jewish population in 1932/33: 77
Records suggest that Jews first settled in Nieheim in 1648. Many members of the 18th-century community were traders, and we also know that the community had established a synagogue by 1780. Other communal institutions included the following: a new synagogue—it housed a schoolroom and an apartment for the teacher—at 29, Marienstrasse (1799); a cemetery on Richterstrasse (1840); and a Jewish elementary school (1890). Burials were conducted at the cemetery until 1942. Five children received religious instruction in 1933, and records also tell us that the community was able to hire a shochet that year. Although SA men destroyed the interior of the synagogue on Pogrom Night (November 1938), local residents prevented them from setting fire to the building; a Jewish home and store were damaged during the violence. Eleven local Jews emigrated from Germany in the years 1933 to 1939. Twenty-six were deported in late 1941/42. At least 72 Nieheim Jews perished in the Shoah. The synagogue was converted into an apartment building after the war. In November 2001, a memorial stone was unveiled in front of the building.Heidemarie Wawrzyn
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., Führer durch die Jüdische Gemeindeverwaltung und Wohlfahrtspflege in Deutschland 1923-1933, Andreas Nachama, Simon Hermann [Eds.], [publisher] Edition Hentrich, 1995., Zentral Archiv zur Erforschung der Geschichte der Juden in Deutschland, Heidelberg University at: www.zentralarchiv.uni-hd.de 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.nieheim.de
Details
| Date Added | Mar 19, 2020 |
|---|---|
| Category | Residential |
| Country | DE |
| State | North Rhine-Westphalia |
| City | Nieheim |
| Exhibits | Pogrom Night 1938 - A Memorial to the Destroyed Synagogues of Germany |
Have additional information, photos, connections, or other resources to contribute?
Help Us in the race against time to time document Jewish history!
