Stadtlohn

First Jewish presence: 1669; peak Jewish population: 60 in 1870; Jewish population in 1933: unknown

Records from 1667 mention Seligman, Stadtlohn’s first documented Jew. Two years later, Salomon Heiman (or Heymann) and his wife purchased property in Stadtlohn. The Jewish community remained independent until 1856, when it became a sub-community of the Ahaus synagogue district. Services were conducted in prayer rooms until 1871, when the community inaugurated a synagogue on Hagenstrasse. During the years 1897 to 1906, the community maintained a private Jewish school. We also know that Stadtlohn’s first Jewish cemetery was consecrated in 1670, and that a new cemetery was laid in 1911. As early as 1935, Nazi supporters smashed windows in the synagogue. Later, on Pogrom Night, November 1938, SA men, firemen and civilians destroyed the synagogue building, but not before vandalizing the structure, throwing the Torah scrolls onto the street and tearing down the walls. Although the rioters attempted to start a fire in the building, the blaze was extinguished out of concern for the safety of neighboring structures. Private Jewish residences were looted that night, after which most local Jews emigrated from Germany. In mid-December 1941, the remaining Jews were deported. According to Yad Vashem’s records, at least 42 Stadtlohn Jews were murdered in the Shoah. A memorial plaque was unveiled at the former synagogue site in 1981.

Benjamin Rosendahl

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

---