Brodenbach

First Jewish presence: unknown; peak Jewish population: 53 in 1895; Jewish population in 1933: 18

Although it is likely that Jews lived in Brodenbach during the Middle Ages, the existence of a permanent Jewish settlement was first documented in 1808. A private synagogue, established in a residence in the early 19th century, became community property in 1851. The synagogue building contained a prayer room (located on the upper floor) with separate rooms for men and women; worshippers had to make their way through the butcher’s shop below to gain access to the synagogue. Burials were conducted in a cemetery jointly owned by the Brodenbach and Oberfell Jewish communities. Eighteen Jews lived in Brodenbach in 1933. The community, however, numbered 24 members, as six Jews from the surrounding towns and villages, one of which was Oberfell, attended services in Brodenbach. On Pogrom Night, SA men and local Nazis forced their way into the butcher’s shop below the synagogue. Frustrated to find the synagogue’s door locked, they smeared the building with anti-Semitic graffiti. The next morning, a mob armed with axes and clubs broke down the door and destroyed the synagogue’s interior. A neighboring resident managed to rescue the synagogue’s Torah scrolls and prayer books, after which she handed them over to the Christian minister of nearby Alken for safekeeping. In April 1942, seventeen Jews, Brodenbach’s last, were deported to the East. At least 12 local Jews perished in the Shoah. The former synagogue building was demolished in either 1953 or 1960.

Bronagh Bowerman

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

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