Fuerstenau

First Jewish presence: early 19th century; peak Jewish population: 51 in 1925; Jewish population in 1933: 48

In 1925, when this small community recorded its peak membership figure, most Fuerstenau Jews earned their livings as butchers. Beginning in the 18th century, burials were conducted in Lingen. Although the six Jews of Fuerstenau officially joined the Jewish community of Freren in 1844, they continued to maintain their own prayer room on Bahnhofstrasse. Fuerstenau’s Jewish school was established in 1885. Beginning in 1929, burזials were conducted in a section of the municipal cemetery. On Pogrom Night, Jewish men were arrested and detained temporarily. The prayer room was broken into and demolished—the interior furnishings were thrown onto the street, as were the ritual objects—and the building was burned to the ground, soon after which the ruins were razed. By 1939, only 18 Jews remained in the town. In 1988, the Jewish community acquired six Jewish graves in the municipal cemetery. As of this writing, no memorial commemorates the lost community or its synagogue. At least 23 Fuerstenau Jews perished in the Shoah.

Heike Zaun Goshen

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

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