Ediger

First Jewish presence: 1663; peak Jewish population: 45 in 1858; Jewish population in 1933: 5

The earliest available record of a Jewish presence in Ediger, a tax list from 1663, mentions a man called Abraham. One hundred years later, seven Jewish families lived on Rathausstrasse (nicknamed Judengasse, or “Jews’ Alley”). These Jewish families, together with those of neighboring Eller, Bremm and Nehren, were largely responsible for the community’s very modest population growth. The synagogue, established during the community’s early years, was located in a private residence on the so-called Judengasse. In the mid-1800s, a new synagogue was erected in Ediger; built in the Neo-Gothic architectural style, that house of worship was renovated in 1888/90 to include a women’s gallery and a street entrance. The anti-Jewish boycott of 1933 financially crippled Ediger’s few remaining Jewish shop owners, and most emigrated from Germany. On Pogrom Night, rioters broke windows in the synagogue and vandalized the interior, after which the few remaining Jews were deported. According to records, 10 former members of the community perished in the camps. The former synagogue has been partly rebuilt, and the cemetery houses a memorial plaque.

Harold Slutkin

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

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