The Jewish Community of Aurich

Interior of the Synagogue in Aurich,
Hannover district, Germany, c.1930.
(The Oster Visual Documentation Center, Beit Hatfutsot,
Courtesy of Ruth Rond, Jerusalem)

Moses Eliezer Liefmann Calmer (1711-1784), first French Jewish nobleman, born in Aurich, Hanover, Germany. He eventually settled in Paris where he made a fortune in commerce and became official purveyor to the French king Louis XV. In 1769 he received French citizenship and in 1774 acquired the barony of Picquigny with feudal privileges including appointing priests. This brought the wrath of the church and the sale was canceled. Calmer was administrator of the 'German' Jews in Paris.

Samson Raphael Hirsch (1808-1888), rabbi and religious thinker, born in Hamburg, Germany. In 1830 he became Chief Rabbi of Oldenburg where he wrote his classic works Nineteen letters on Judaism and Horeb in which he first expounded his theological system. In 1841 he became Rabbi of Aurich and Osnabrueck and from 1846 to 1851 lived in Nikolsburg (now Mikulov, Czech Republic) as Chief Rabbi of Moravia. Despite his Orthodoxy, his modern innovations caused a rift with the extreme Orthodox community and he moved to Frankfurt on Main. There he organized an autonomous Orthodox community (separate from the Reform who dominated Frankfurt Jewry) and this became the model for other separatist Orthodox communities throughout Germany. In 1876 he obtained official legislation that gave legal recognition to these Orthodox communities. Hirsch was the founder of Neo-Orthodoxy whose motto was 'Torah with secular knowledge', which became the forerunner of modern Orthodoxy.
While remaining Orthodox, he advocated modernization within its framework. He created a network of schools in this spirit and translated key works of Jewish tradition into German, providing them with commentaries that proved highly influential.

Emden

A city in Lower Saxony, Germany. 

Emden is a seaport, and located on the Ems River.

HISTORY

Legend has it that Jews arrived in Emden during antiquity, both as exiles after the destruction of the First Temple, and as slaves accompanying the Roman legions after the destruction of the Second Temple. The first historical reference to Jews in Emden dates from the second half of the 16th century; David b. Shlomoh Gans mentions the Jews of Emden in his book Tzemach David.

In 1590 the non-Jewish citizens of Emden complained to the emperor’s local representative that the Jews were permitted to follow their religious precepts openly and were exempt from wearing the Jewish badge.

Marranos from Portugal passed through Emden on their way to Amsterdam; a few settled in Emden and returned to practicing Judaism. Moses Uri HaLevy (1594-1620), a rabbi in Emden, ultimately left to settle in Amsterdam along with the Spanish-Portuguese Marranos, where he served as the first chakham of the Portuguese community. Emden’s city council distinguished between the local Jews and the Portuguese, encouraging the latter to settle in the city, while attempting to expel the former. Their attempts, however, were unsuccessful, after the intervention of the duke in their favor. The judicial rights of the Portuguese Jews were defined in a grant of privilege issued by the city council in 1649,
and renewed in 1703.

In 1744, when Emden was annexed to Prussia, the Jews came under Prussian law. After this point, the Jews of Emden would go through cycles of gaining and losing rights. In 1762 anti-Jewish riots broke out in Emden. Then, in 1808, during the rule of Louis Bonaparte, the Jews in Emden were granted equal civil rights. However, these rights were abolished under Hanoverian rule in 1815, and the Jews of Emden were not emancipated until 1842.

A new synagogue was built in 1836; it was later expanded in 1910 to include a mikvah (ritual bath) and additional seating. A Jewish school was established in 1845, and a Talmud Torah was founded in 1896.

Noted rabbis of Emden included Jacob Emden (1728-1733), and Samson Raphael Hirsch (1841-1847).

In 1808 there were 500 Jews living in Emden. The community numbered 900 in 1905, and 1,000 in 1930.

 

THE HOLOCAUST

Many of Emden’s Jews left after the Nazi rise to power. In 1933 the community numbered 581, which decreased to 298 in 1939.

The synagogue was burned down during the Kristallnacht pogrom (November 9-10. 1938).

During World War II (1939-1945) most of the Jews remaining in Emden were deported. 110 Jews were deported from Emden to Lodz.

 

POSTWAR

There were six Jews living in Emden in 1967.

Dornum

A village in the East Frisian district of Aurich, in Lower Saxony, Germany.

The first Jewish presence in Dornum dates back to the middle of the 17th century. However, only one Jewish family was granted the right of settlement. In 1717 a big flood killed 20% of the population and caused great damage to the agriculture. Thereafter, a growing number of Jewish families were allowed to settle in the area in order to stimulate the local economy. In 1730 ten Jewish families were registered in Dornum. Their number increased over the years to eighteen families by 1903 (10 % of the total population). At the beginning of the 20th century economic and increased industrialization caused many Jews to leave Dornum for bigger towns and cities. Thus their number decreased to twelve families in 1927 and to ten in 1933.

Among the Jews who left Dornum was Miene (Minnie) Schoenberg who emigrated with her parents to the United States in 1879 where three of her sons entered into show business and became the famous "Marx Brothers”.

The majority of the Jews in Dornum traded in livestock or were merchants and butchers. Between 1744-1807 they lived under Prussian law which restricted their range of professions as well as their right of settlement. The industrialization of the early 20th century attracted many of Dornum’s Jews to bigger places. In 1933 the Jewish community numbered 52 persons.

The Holocaust Period

Most of the Jewish population of Dornum were murdered in the concentration and death camps, to which they were sent by the Nazis some time after the outbreak of World War II (September 1939). When in 1940 the last Jew was deported, the Jewish community of Dornum ceased to exist.

Lower Saxony

Niedersachsen

A Land (state) in northwest Germany bordering the North Sea. 

Esens

A town  in the district of Wittmund, in Lower Saxony, Germany.

The first letter of safe conduct, which guaranteed the Jews of Esens the rights of settlement and trade, was issued in 1645. The Jewish community grew steadily from eight families in 1690 to 70 persons in 1708 and 117 in 1828. Until 1871 the community of Esens also included the Jews from Westeraccumersiel among its members. When they left the community, the number decreased to 89 and remained quite stable over the following years. A synagogue was first mentioned in 1680. A new synagogue and school was built in 1827. The school had to close down in 1927 because there were not sufficient pupils among the 76 Jews living in Esens.

The majority of the Jews in Esens made their living in livestock trade, retail trading, and as merchants of textiles or as butchers.

In 1939 the Jewish community numbered 30 people.

The Holocaust Period

After the Nazis came to power in 1933, local members of SS started to discriminate against their Jewish neighbors. On P:ogrom Night (November 9, 1938) the SA burned down the synagogue and deported all the Jewish men to Sachsenhausen concentration camp. Some of them returned and succeeded to leave to other countries. When in 1940 the entire east Frisia's Jewish population was deported, the Jewish community of Esens ceased to exist.

Leer

A town in the district of Leer in Lower Saxony, Germany.

First Jewish presence: 1611; peak Jewish population: 306 in 1885; Jewish population in 1933: unknown

In 1925, 289 Jews lived in Leer, making the community the third-largest in East Friesland. Leer was home to a Jewish cemetery by the middle of the 17th century. The last burial conducted there before the Shoah took place on June 11, 1939. A Jewish school was established on Kirchstrasse at some point between 1840 and 1850; later, during the first decade of the 20th century, the community opened a new school—the building housed an apartment for a teacher—on Deichstrasse (present-day 14 Ubbo-Emmius-Strasse). The synagogue on Heisfelder Strasse was inaugurated in 1885.

On Pogrom Night (Nov. 9, 1938), SA men set the synagogue on fire. Jews from Leer and the surrounding areas were assembled at the fairgrounds; the women and children were later released, but the men were sent (via Oldenburg) to Sachsenhausen, where they were interned until the end of December 1938 (possibly January 1939). In late January 1940, local Jews were ordered to leave East Friesland by April 1, 1940. By then, Jewish properties had been confiscated, and Jews had been forcibly moved into the ghetto located at the corner of Groninger and Kampstrasse. The Jewish school was closed on February 23, 1940, and the ghetto was liquidated on October 23, 1941. In March 1943, the municipality bought the Jewish cemetery, after which, in May of that same year, Dutch slave laborers were forced to remove the gravestones from the oldest section of the Jewish cemetery. Approximately 20 to 30 Leer Jews survived the war. Miriam Hermann, one of the survivors, was deported to Theresienstadt Nazi concentration camp on February 10, 1945. Almost 90% of the community perished in the Shoah. After the war, a stone tablet bearing the ten commandments— it had once stood above the synagogue door—was found in a neighboring vegetable garden; in 1984, the tablet was transferred to the Ichud-Shviat-Tzion synagogue on Ben Yehuda Street in Tel Aviv. During the years 1946 to 1985, six Jews were buried in the oldest part of the Jewish cemetery, which was returned to the Jewish community in 1953. Memorial plaques were unveiled at the former synagogue site (on September 12, 1961) and at the cemetery.

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This entry was originally published on Beit Ashkenaz - Destroyed German Synagogues and Communities website and contributed to the Database of the Museum of the Jewish People courtesy of Beit Ashkenaz.

Wittmund

A town and capital of the district of Wittmund, in Lower Saxony, Germany.

Jewish presence in Wittmund is first mentioned in 1679 in connection with ben Isaac Bblitz, a Bible translator of the town, who printed a bible in Amsterdam. A Jewish school was mentioned in 1750 and in 1816 a synagogue was built. After the revolution of 1848, Jews took an active part in the communal life and became part of the “burgerwehr” (local civil guard) in 1852. In 1872 seventeen Jewish families were living in Wittmund. In 1911 the communal house for the poor was demolished and a new school was built in its place. The community had a circle for women and a “gemiluth hassadim” (charity society).

Some of the Jews living in Wittmund traded in textiles and had their own shops. In 1905 Moritz Neumark of Wittmund founded the furnace (“hochofenwerk”) in Luebeck and became its first manager.

In 1933 the Jewish community numbered 50 people.


The Holocaust

After the Pogrom Night (Nov. 9, 1938), the Jewish community was forced to sell its synagogue which was later demolished. Twenty of the members succeeded in emigrating to the united states. Many of those who remained in Wittmund were deported to Nazi death camps and died in Auschwitz and Sobibor. The Jewish community of Wittmund ceased to exist in 1940.

Jever

A town and the capital of the district of Friesland in Lower Saxony, Germany. 

First Jewish presence: 15th century; peak Jewish population: 219 in or around the year 1880; Jewish population in 1933: 98

By 1880, many Jever Jews has established themselves as cattle traders and merchants (of textiles and tobacco). According to records, the town was then home to a Jewish innkeeper and a Jewish farmer. In 1779, the community established a prayer room and a cemetery, the latter of which was located on the road to Cleverns and enlarged in 1841. (Burials were conducted in Neustadtgoedens before 1841.) Built in 1801 on Wasserpfortstrasse, the synagogue was replaced by a larger building in 1880. Jever’s Jewish schoolteacher also served as shochet and chazzan. The Jews of Jever maintained a women’s organization, a charity, a choir, a literary circle and a branch of the Zionist movement. Jewish homes and businesses were looted on Pogrom Night (Nov. 9, 1938), and 15 local Jews were deported to Sachsenhausen Nazi concentration camp; Jever’s Jewish cemetery was vandalized, and the synagogue was set on fire, after which the building burned down completely. Later, in 1939, the synagogue’s ruins were sold to a contractor and demolished. Several Jews returned to Jever after the war, and the cemetery was restored. Until 1951, a nearby displaced persons camp housed approximately 1,500 Jewish survivors of Bergen-Belsen Nazi concentration camp. In 1950, a commercial building was erected on the former synagogue site; a memorial plaque was affixed to the structure in 1978. Between 63 and 77 Jever Jews were murdered in the Shoah

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This entry was originally published on Beit Ashkenaz - Destroyed German Synagogues and Communities website and contributed to the Database of the Museum of the Jewish People courtesy of Beit Ashkenaz.