Altenkirchen

Residential - Altenkirchen, Rhineland-Palatinate

First Jewish presence: 1734; peak Jewish population: 260 in 1908; Jewish population in 1933: 70

The Jewish community of Altenkirchen, founded in 1743, established several communal institutions: a cemetery (1780), an elementary school (1824) and a synagogue (1884). The synagogue, which seated 120 worshipers, was built in the Moorish architectural style. During the years of the Weimar Republic, Jews took an active part in the economic, social and cultural life of the town in spite of sporadic anti-Semitic outbursts. Even the boycott of 1933 did not extinguish the spirit of enterprise; in 1937, Altenkirchen was still home to seven Jewish cattle dealers and four butchers. A Zionist society of 15 members was active in the community. On Pogrom Night, the synagogue was set on fire—the interior was destroyed—Jewish-owned homes and businesses were vandalized and Jewish proprietors were arrested and sent to Dachau. Several Jews were forced to clear the synagogue ruins, but it was not until 1946 that the site was completely cleared. Of the 27 Jewish families who lived in Altenkirchen during the Nazi period, several managed to emigrate before the final deportation. In 1978, the town and church authorities unveiled a memorial listing the names of 47 former members of the destroyed community.

Harold Slutzkin

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., Lexikon der jüdischen Gemeinde in Deutschen Sprachraum, Klaus Dieter-Alicke, [publisher] Gütersloher Verlagshaus, 2008.

Details

Date Added	Apr 07, 2020
Category	Residential
Country	DE
State	Rhineland-Palatinate
City	Altenkirchen
Exhibits	Pogrom Night 1938 - A Memorial to the Destroyed Synagogues of Germany

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Altenkirchen

First Jewish presence: 1734; peak Jewish population: 260 in 1908; Jewish population in 1933: 70

Harold Slutzkin

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.