History of the Jews in Hamm

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The history of the Jews in Hamm begins just a few decades after the city of Hamm was founded in 1226. A Hebrew martyrology , written in 1296, mentions two Jewish refugees from Hamm. In 1327, Bishop Gottfried von Osnabrück allowed some Jews to settle in the city that had been founded a hundred years earlier. As usual in Germany , the relationship between Hammer Jews and the rest of the population was characterized by tension and mutual distrust. Nevertheless, the Jews were indispensable financiers of the authorities for centuries. In 1938, the Hamms synagogue was destroyed as part of the November pogroms . The Jews in Hamm were robbed of their livelihoods during the Nazi regime and deported if they could not escape by fleeing abroad. Their number has now shrunk so much that they no longer form a community of their own. In 1953 the few remaining Hammer Jews joined the Jewish community of Greater Dortmund .

Jewish life in Hamm

Middle Ages and early modern times

Until about the middle of the 19th century, only briefly interrupted by the time of the Napoleonic occupation, the Jews in Hamm had no civil rights whatsoever . The Counts of the Mark only allowed wealthy Jews to live in the city. For the lords of the county of Mark , to which Hamm belonged, this was a lucrative source of income in two respects. On the one hand, the Jews appeared as usurers ( moneylenders ), which also benefited the ailing finances of the Brandenburg counts, on the other hand, the sovereigns demanded protection money from the Jews if they wanted to live in the city. Only those who were able to pay a large sum of money received a temporary letter of protection or safe conduct in return . This allowed the interested Jew to stay in the city for a precisely defined period of time, usually several years. After this period a new letter had to be purchased and new fees were due. Often it was the townspeople themselves from whom the Jews had to be protected. Again and again mistrust arose against the few Jewish families who lived in the city, and again and again the resistance of the council and / or the citizens against the presence of the Jews formed.

The first Jews probably lived in Hamm just a few decades after the city was founded in 1226. At least this is indicated by a Hebrew martyrology from 1296, which mentions two Jewish youths from Hamm who are said to have died sacrificial. Neither of the two is named. The first inhabitant of the Jewish faith mentioned by name was called Godschalcus. His letter of protection dated June 15, 1327 and was issued to him by Bishop Gottfried von Osnabrück , who took protection of several other Jews that year, including a man named Secelinus. Both called themselves after their move to the city of Hamm de Hammone (from Hamm). Godschalcus de Hammone had to pay an annual interest of six solidi for the residence permit, Secelinus de Hammone an interest of one mark.

1348 awarded Count Engelbert III. Von der Mark a Jew named Samuel residing in Unna and his family enjoy the same rights as our Jews in Hamm, Unna and Kamen . Just two years later, in 1350, Hamm was hit by the great plague . Although the Jewish population also suffered from the terrible disease - only seven families are said to have survived the plague - they were accused of poisoning the wells and thereby promoting the spread of the plague. That is why the first large expulsion of Jews took place. The surviving Jews were chased out of the city, killed and burned. Their goods were confiscated from the sovereign.

But the Counts of the Mark could not do without their indispensable lenders in the long run. And so after 1370 they again allowed Jewish families to settle in the city. In 1408 King Ruprecht of the Palatinate awarded his sister Anna the golden sacrificial penny of the Jews.

From 1409 there was a dispute between Duke Adolf and his brother Gerhard von der Mark zu Hamm , who claimed the county of Mark for himself and had allied himself with Dietrich II von Moers , Archbishop of Cologne, to enforce his claims . The latter was keen to weaken the rival rulers of the Brandenburg-Klevian rulers. On March 14, 1419, Gerhard von der Mark concluded an alliance against Duke Adolf von Kleve with the knighthood resident in Hamm and the council of Hamm. Gerhard promised the city of Hamm the confirmation and extension of their previous privileges if they would successfully support him in becoming sovereign. This also included the renouncement of the further fortification of his city ​​palace , a rather symbolic gesture, but which should support the autonomy of the city. In Hamm, as almost everywhere in Germany, there was massive resistance to the settlement of Jews. That is why Gerhard also assured the privilege of not having to allow any Jews to stay. Since Gerhard was able to decide the dispute with his brother for himself and gained control of the county of Mark from him, there was a second expulsion of Jews in Hamm. In a document of November 13, 1419 by Gerhard, it says: “No Jews should live in Hamm, and we should not give them any freedom in it” (“bynnen dem Hamme neyne (no) joden wonen, and den en sole wij dar neyne vryheit en bynnen geven ").

But as early as 1430, the same Count Gerhard von der Mark, with the approval of the mayor, council and the entire community, allowed the Jew Leon (or Lewe) to live in Hamm for six years. In doing so, he assured the city that this should not be a hindrance to the citizens "because of their privileges, letters and habits, which should not be offended by them or neglected in one point". At the same time, he committed himself to “not admitting any other Jews there, nor letting Leon live there for more than six years, unless with the approval of his dear citizens” (“id en were dan with the selver our lyever burger will sunder argelist”). During the reign of Duke Adolf IV, in the course of the Soest feud , his eldest son Johann I granted the city of Hamm the privilege "that no Jews should ever live in the city of Hamme" in a document dated June 5, 1447. When he took over the government in the Mark after the death of his uncle Gerhard, he confirmed this assurance with a further document, dated August 13, 1462. Gradually, more and more rights of the sovereign passed over to the citizenship. As a result, Jews were only allowed to settle in Hamm again in 1560.

In a letter from the mayors and the council from 1604, they announced that, with the consent of the whole community, they would be escorting the Jews Moses and Leon (or Levi) with their relatives and their servants for twelve years. Only these two men are allowed to lend money and collect interest “in the Jewish way”. The loan business is precisely regulated by special regulations. The city wants to help the Jews to collect delinquent payments. The Jews are under the jurisdiction of the council and the ordinary court. Moses and Levi pay 1150 Reichstalers for themselves and their relatives for admission and for a period of twelve years. After this time has expired, they can stay in Hamm for another year to collect their borrowed money and settle their affairs, but without being allowed to practice usury during that time.

The citizens were also guided by their endeavors to keep the Jews out of the city at their annual meetings and therefore, seventeen years later, on May 5, 1621, made the following motion to the council: that after a long privilege, the Jews may be brought out of the city completely, since they can no longer be tolerated by the citizens ”.

In 1661 - Hamm had meanwhile passed to Brandenburg-Prussia together with the rest of the county of Mark - the electoral governor Moritz von Nassau promised "by virtue of the hand and seal" of the city that after the expiry of the approved years no further Jews would be tolerated without express permission should. In 1665 the citizens found out "that the local Jews had sneaked an order from his electoral highness for a few new years of accompaniment". Thereupon the council was instructed to get the Elector Friedrich Wilhelm I “that they may be expelled because they are highly harmful to the city”. As K. Maler says, the petition was unsuccessful. Since then, the number of Jewish families has increased.

As can be seen from this, the Jews mostly found protection with the sovereigns. With the transfer of the regalia to the sovereigns, the protection of the Jews (also known as the escort of Jews) fell to them, for which they received protection money from the Jews. In addition, the Jews became indispensable financiers for the sovereigns, especially since the last dukes of Kleve were poor economists. Towards the end of the 16th century, the city of Hamm had taken on a guarantee of 20,000 thalers for the sovereign. When a Jew was supposed to collect the second half of this sum and walked through the country with the guarantee of the city of Hamm, the council wrote indignantly to the sovereign, “that for our gracious prince and lord and our belittling and denigration we have ours as a Jew and a farmer To trust open patents and bills to raise the money everywhere and to communicate, as we complained quite a lot when we raised the previous 10,000 Reichstaler that we were tried and loaded with such suspicious people, since your Princely Ganden other servants and subjects enough that are better and more creditable to use in such important matters. Because the previous Jew had to be given 400 Reichstaler in addition to the consumption, which amounted to 200 Reichstaler, which money would have been better saved, since the thing could have been done by others at lower cost ”.

Despite the aversion of the citizenry, the Jews established themselves as permanent members of the urban population. They were also tolerated more and more by the city itself, because they made themselves indispensable as moneylenders in times of need. When, towards the end of the 17th century, during the wars of Louis XIV, the city of Hamm was occupied by the French for several years and suffered from extortion, the Jew Simon Nathan lent it money in the worst crisis years of 1672, 1673, 1674 and 1679 as well as the Jews in 1680 40 Louis-neufs and in 1684 the Jew Jordan Simon two capitals of 32 and 30 Reichstalers. The city also collected the protection money. The presence of the Jews thus proved to be a solid source of money in times of low income. For example, around 1680 a Jewish widow paid 34 thalers of escort money annually into the city treasury for herself, her son and son-in-law. Also as money changers and especially as bankers, the Jews were an indispensable part of urban life during these years. For this reason, the attempts to expel them from the city also stopped.

The transition of the Duchy of Kleve and the County of Mark to Brandenburg-Prussia also brought other changes with it. Instead of the individual attributes, an overall attribute was set for Kleve-Mark, which the Jews were to distribute to the individual Jewish families themselves. For this purpose, a head of the Jews was elected for the entire county of Mark, who, according to an ordinance of 1696, was to ensure that the prescribed number of permitted Jewish families was not exceeded, that tributes were paid punctually and that commerce was promoted. From 1763 to 1784 and 1792, respectively, Anchel Herz held the office of head of Jews for the county of Mark in Hamm. Tax council Nattermöller praised the fact that he always delivered the taxes on time and praised his "disinterested and quite patriotic behavior" because at the time of inflation he freely granted an interest-free loan to buy groceries in Holland for the garrison would have.

The number of Jews was still limited, so only one son was allowed to marry, usually the oldest, who had to obtain the privilege from the king. Since 1730, instead of being escorted for certain years, the Jews who had slipped away were given permanent residence.

Under Frederick William I , Jews were allowed to settle in the country beyond the specified number of permitted families if they brought significant wealth with them in order to increase trade and traffic and thus the state's income. As a result, the number of Jewish families in Kleve-Mark rose from 40 to 150. The number of Jews in Hamm also increased, so that in 1722 they had their own Jewish school and in 1768 a synagogue.

Rights and duties of the Jews in the 17th and 18th centuries

Up until the beginning of the 17th century, the city's economic life could no longer be imagined without the Jews as lenders. Nevertheless, they were denied social recognition. They were merely tolerated. As non-Christians, they remain exempt from citizenship and were subject to numerous other restrictions, particularly those relating to the freedom to choose a profession. They were not admitted to the so-called bourgeois diet , that is, they were not accepted into any of the guilds . As a result, Jews were not allowed to work as craftsmen or traders (“shopkeepers”). They were also denied the enjoyment of the urban pastures . The use of pasture was also linked to citizenship. If a Jew still wanted to drive his cattle into the town market, he had to pay a fee. In 1709 a cow cost 30  stüber and a beef 15 stüber. Accordingly, the following principle had already been established in 1622 with a view to the use of pasture: "A Jew in Hamm is not entitled to drive a horse or sheep into the Waldemei without payment".

On May 25, 1604, the mayor and council and the whole community concluded a contract with the two Jews Leon and Moses, the content of which has endured through the ages and which is representative of the situation of the Jews of Hamm in those years. The city promises its contract partners and their wives and children (of whom only one was allowed to marry), including the servants, including their belongings and property, "escort, protection and protection" for a period of twelve years, ensuring them protection and defense against Violence, frees them from "buildings, guards and city services, but the men on fire and other emergencies are supposed to follow the chiming of the bell and perform man-made services". During this time, no other Jew is allowed to “live at home and practice Jewish usury”.

The two Jews are allowed “in the Jewish way to lend everyone on pledges, manuscripts, good faith or any other money, but so that they do not demand any advantage or usury from our citizens and residents for the first eight days, but up to Replacement of every thaler every week a pfennig, of half a thaler one heller, from foreigners double that ”. You are required to give married couples a loan of a maximum of ten talers or to inform the spouse about the deal. Goods that are deposited with them for pawnshop become their property after one year and can be sold. However, the two Jews have to ask their debtor through a city servant to redeem the pledge. If loan monies are not correctly interest-bearing or repaid, the “usurers” have the option of turning to the municipal jurisdiction, which will enforce their claims.

Receiving stolen them is interestingly, partially permitted. If stolen goods are sold or pledged to them, they must surrender them without compensation if the owner finds the stolen goods on them. However, if the owner does not respond, “they may turn over the stolen goods like their own, with the exception of church jewels, ornaments or crockery”. They should not get hold of the latter at all, neither as a purchase nor as a deposit. You yourself are not entitled to take out a loan from another citizen and thus to engage in "usury at the same time as citizens and Jews", "otherwise the sum and interest will be forfeited". If woolen cloths or junk goods are added to them, they should not sell the cloth in bulk, but rather offer it to wall tailors (cloth dealers) for a reasonable price and, accordingly, the junk goods to local retailers. This requirement is based on the lack of the right to participate in the guilds and to do business oneself.

They are allowed to buy the grain they need for themselves and their families "with beer and bread", but not "for profit and advantage," that is, for trade. They are also allowed to slaughter up to seven cattle, ten sheep and ten calves per person per year for their own use. "What is grown and what is forbidden to eat Jews, they should sell, but pay the butchers a ton of beer a year for it." Each of the two contracting parties is allowed to lease two cow pastures and two pieces of garden and to buy all the goods they want for theirs Need a living. The exception is “what goes and belongs in office and guilds”. Lawsuits against citizens should be heard before the community court in Hamm, as well as lawsuits against them.

For the twelve years you will pay “one to all fair escort money, a total of 1,150 old, hard, fully valid, silver Reichstaler”. When the twelve years are up, this contract expires; but the Jews should then be free to stay for another year and trade to settle their affairs, but not engage in usury. In this twelve year, "they should keep each other and towards everyone, as pious Jews are due, kind and friendly and therefore slippy, and thoroughly dispose of quarrel, quarrel, displeasure, blasphemy, disgrace and abuse".

This restriction on economic activity has been maintained through the centuries. In 1789 the tailor's privilege still contained the following stipulation: “Jews should not dare to sell finished furriers 'and tailors' goods at the annual markets or in the shops, unless they bought these goods from the furriers and tailors in the city of Hamm would have. Otherwise the goods should be confiscated and the money released from them should be charged to the guild treasury. But it is forbidden for Jews and others to trade in old furs and clothes that have been worn and to sell them again ”. Every now and then, city officials were sent to the Jews to check whether there were stolen goods among the pledged goods. The Jews therefore had to be careful about the source from which they received valuable items made of precious metal, because they were obliged to give an account of them. For this reason, a Jewish woman in Hamm had the Electoral Cologne judge in the neighboring town of Werl certify on July 27, 1618 that she “set up a number of handsome, large and small silver and gold-plated cups, butter bowls, table mugs and all sorts of dishes in one and would have acquired honest purchases from the right gentleman, so that you and your family would have the power to sell these items together or especially again without any hesitation or to do otherwise with them, like a right gentleman to deal with his own is authorized ".

Like all traders, the Jews were also obliged to live in the city. If they did not voluntarily comply with this requirement, they should be "brought from the country to the city by military execution". Although they were excluded from citizenship there, they were subject to civil services and burdens, as were the other residents who were not fully entitled, and were therefore fully taxable. They tried to buy their way out of this by paying a transfer fee to the city, the amount of which could be agreed individually. In 1684, Jordan Simons, an "escorted Jew", was exempted from "billeting and guarding" for an annual fee of 13½ Reichstaler. The same applies to Elias Markus, who is released from his obligations against payment of thirty Reichstalers until 1687 ("enemy attack excluded"). In 1720 the city received a total of 52 Reichstaler in exemption money from the Jews. These were also subject to city taxes. The city received ten percent of every “Jewish property” that left the city, for example on the occasion of gifts for weddings or inheritance in the event of death.

Analogous to the limitation of “guild masters”, which meant that only a master's son or daughter was allowed to marry, Jewish families were also subject to such restrictions. According to the contract of 1604, only one person, the so-called Familiant, was entitled to marry in the city. This was to ensure that the number of Jews in the city did not increase. This repeatedly led to conflicts within the families when it came to determining the person of the family member.

It is not mentioned in particular that the clothing of the Jews differed from that of the rest of the population, but this results from the generally valid regulations that were confirmed in the Revised General Privilege of 1750 under Frederick the Great .

1806 to 1933

When, after the collapse of Prussia in 1806, the county of Mark was incorporated into the Grand Duchy of Berg , a government announcement appeared on September 26, 1808 in the Hammischen Intelligence Gazette that the Jews, who were now subject to service obligations and public taxes, had the same rights and freedoms how the other citizens should enjoy:

“In view of the fact that the Jewish subjects in the Grand Duchy of Berg and the provinces associated with it are subject to both the military obligation and the public taxes of other subjects, ... are ... all particularly personal taxes paid by the Jews in the County of Mark under the name of Juden-Zoll , Jewish body duty, tribute, protection money, fees for marriages and other such things completely abolished ... "

After the "fall" of the county of Mark to Prussia, the first attempt was made to push the Jews back into their old position; their full equality has been abolished. But the renewed complete disenfranchisement of the Jewish population failed. During these years, individual Jewish city councilors such as Elias Marks or Seligmann Bacharach in Hamm can be identified who were involved in various associations and social aid organizations. Since the law of July 23, 1847, the Jews in Prussia were officially elected as members of the magistrate and community councilors, even if they were initially excluded from high local political offices (e.g. mayor, bailiff, community leader). By contrast, the Prussian constitution of January 31, 1850 gave them full civil and political equality. With Moritz Bacharach , who had been a city councilor in 1871, the first councilor of the Jewish faith was appointed 1,893th

The synagogue district, which originally only covered the city of Hamm (a prayer house existed from 1831 at the latest), was enlarged on the basis of a law of February 10, 1855 by the Rhynern office . The first meeting of the community council took place on December 15, 1855, and on February 28, 1858 the construction of the synagogue was considered. The new synagogue was finally inaugurated on September 12, 1868. With the growth of the Jewish community - in 1846 there were 66 Jews in Hamm, in 1871 already 174 (about 1 percent of the total population), in 1926 about 420 - the number of charities also increased. The community also actively participated in the external non-profit associations. The community has always had good relations with city and state authorities.

To ward off anti-Semitic endeavors, the Jewish citizens founded a local group called “Hamm and the surrounding area” of the Central Association on February 12, 1908 . The lawyer Dr. Michaelis elected. Deputy chairman was Julius Blumenthal, secretary of the veterinarian Lindemeyer and treasurer of the teachers of the Jewish school in Weiler. Despite growing anti-Semitic currents, the process of integration initially continued in the first third of the 20th century. Several city councilors of the Jewish faith are known, for example Max Gerson (1902 to 1910) or Adolf Herz (1905–1919). In World War I , numerous German-Jewish citizens fell.

The inflationary period thwarted the plan to build a new church and postponed it for an indefinite period until the Jewish community was finally destroyed in 1938/1939. Another consequence of the unfavorable financial situation was the closure of the Jewish school, which had been founded in 1846, on April 1, 1923. The teacher was taken over by the city of Hamm and the children were placed in the other city schools.

In view of the extinction of the Jewish community thirteen years later, however, the words in the commemorative publication on Hamm's 700th anniversary sound like bitter mockery today:

“As the account has shown, the Israelite community has existed in Hamm since the beginning of the 14th century and shared sorrow and joy with the residents of the city. May the good relationship that has existed so far between the various constellations continue to exist in the future! "

- Josef Lappe, Dr. Eichhoff : 700 years of Hamm (Westphalia) . Festschrift to commemorate the 700th anniversary of the city, 1927

The hammer Jews under Nazi rule

The annihilation of the Jews and thus of the Jewish community in the National Socialist German Reich was based in Hamm, as in the entire area ruled by Germany, on the racist Nazi ideology. However, it also had solid economic reasons. Jewish businesses were confiscated and “ Aryanized ”, Jewish assets confiscated and transferred to the National Socialist People's Welfare .

As early as May 1, 1933, there was a racist parade in Wilhelmstrasse. There is a photograph of it in the Gustav Lübcke Municipal Museum. In the background you can see a banner that reads: "Jews are our misfortune".

On March 29, 1933 - 402 Jewish citizens lived in Hamm at that time - the “Combat League of Commercial Medium-Sized Enterprises” turned massively against Jewish merchants. Ulrich Deter, NSDAP district leader, told the city parliament that his party would "settle accounts" with the Jews. The Jewish owner of the Alsberg company was initially forced to regularly raise the swastika flag. On April 1, 1933, the day of the nationwide boycott of Jews , the Alsberg store had to close. Other Jewish shops were also boycotted (Adler, Berla, Halle, Heymann, Hilsenrath, Jordan, Lindemeyer, Löwenstein, Meyberg, Schragenheim and many more). On April 7, 1933, when the Law to Restore the Professional Civil Service and the Law on Admission to the Bar came into force, well-known Jewish doctors and lawyers in Hamm lost their license to work. The Jewish lawyers Herzberg, Gerson (baptized), Griesbach, Mendel, Michaelis and Samuelsdorf were banned from practicing their profession and some emigrated. The Jewish doctors were only allowed to treat Jewish patients. Dr. Löwenstein left Hamm in 1936, Dr. Mündheim died on September 6, 1940 in Hamm. Dr. Kleinstraß stayed and was deported to Zamosc / Lubin on April 27, 1942, from where he reported twice in detail in letters smuggled out. Teachers or Jewish academics working in scientific professions lost their jobs or were unable to practice their profession after completing their studies. In 1935, the so-called Aryanization of Jewish businesses was consequently implemented. For example, Alsberg changed hands for a ridiculous price and became "Aryanized property". By 1938, the expropriation of the Jewish business owners was largely complete.

On January 9, 1935, the Nuremberg Laws declared Jews to be second class.

In 1938, a small fringe group of the Jewish community came under pressure, the Eastern Jews who immigrated during the Weimar period . They were largely so-called little people who found their livelihoods as workers or in the retail trade. After the First World War they had voted in the referendums in the east for membership of the German Reich and had later immigrated. This group included Aron, Dahl, Freund, Goldstrom, Lubasch, Radt, Reicher, Schweier and Waynstain. The Tömör family was of Hungarian descent. A few, like Salum Freund, were naturalized and thus treated on an equal footing with local Jews. Others stayed in the German Reich long enough not to be directly threatened with deportation. Even so, they were put under pressure. Anyone who had not been resident long enough was arrested and deported in the Poland Action of October 1938, which certainly affected Fischel Waynstajn and Manes Aron. Her arrest is documented for October 27 and 28, 1938, respectively. Nothing is known about their whereabouts. There was also repeated abuse and other attacks on individuals.

Two buildings were built on the property of the Jewish community in 1938. One of them was the former school on the street front, which has only been used for religious instruction since the primary school was closed in 1923. In 1933 the meeting room of the congregation was moved from Lutherstrasse to the house of the lawyer Dr. Alfred Michaelis (Hohestrasse 59) relocated. The community center for cultural work was located here until Kristallnacht. This included a youth center, community evenings, lectures, concerts, meetings of the women's association, etc. There was also a library. For this reason, there was now an apartment on Martin-Luther-Straße, which Nathan and Sara Dahl lived in in 1938. Nathan Dahl had been a civil servant for a long time. His son-in-law Kurt Radt was the last teacher in Hamm before the war, but lived at Grünstraße 6. A member of another Jewish family lived in the second apartment in the house. The synagogue was in the back yard of the school and was accessible from the street through a narrow driveway. The development on the area delimited by Südstrasse, Martin-Luther-Strasse, Sternstrasse and Königstrasse was very dense and partly consisted of half-timbered buildings. On November 9 and 10, 1938, around the November pogroms, there were assaults and humiliations against the Jewish community. In Hamm they seem to have started with the onset of darkness. One of the first to make observations at the synagogue was a reporter from the Westphalian Gazette, who was on the way to the train station, behind which a major fire had broken out on the site of the Glunz AG sawmill . At the entrance to the synagogue he spotted a few SS men who were busy there. When he inquired, it was readily explained to him that they wanted to set fire to the synagogue. The reporter pointed out the surrounding buildings and that the fire brigade already had plenty of work to do. The SS troops limited themselves to destroying the interior of the synagogue. They smashed the interior. The stalls (120 seats and desks for the men and 60 galleries for the women) of the Almemor and the Torah shrine were completely smashed. The prayer robes , probably also the prayer books , the Torah robes and other combustibles were thrown into a heap in the courtyard and set on fire. Horse-drawn carts, led by a National Socialist by the reins, drove over the piled up holy writings. After an appraisal of the synagogue on November 18, 1938, with the participation of Mayor Deter, Mayor Leinberg, Building Councilor Haarmann and City Councilor Daniel, it was reported: “During the inspection, considerable destruction of the residential buildings ... and the synagogue behind it was found. The synagogue's inventory, the troops and galleries were destroyed, the windows smashed. The synagogue building was not destroyed. ”Only a few remains of the cult silver were found. Some cult objects that were found on November 23, 1938 during an inspection by museum director Bänfer were taken over by the Hammer Museum for safekeeping. Other things belonging to the community, such as a safe, Torah scroll, jewelry and two antique goblets also ended up there.

The looting of the houses dragged on all night. There is certain information about looting at Hymann, Schützenstrasse 4, Heßlerstrasse 40; Dahl, Martin-Luther-Straße 5, Hilsenrath, address unclear; Jordan, Bahnhofstrasse 27; Michaelis; Levy and community center Hohestrasse 59; Schragenheim, Nassauerstraße 24, Eugen Kaiser, address unknown and Freund, Südstraße 10a. In Grünstraße 17 (Kirchheimer) “only” the window panes were smashed. During the looting, people were locked in the basement, forced to watch the devastation or forced to flee. The Heymann family was killed. A few days after the interior of the house at Hesslerstrasse 40 was looted and destroyed, a teacher and his class wandered through the destroyed house and explained to his students how " enemies of the people " were treated.

On November 12, 1938, the ordinance to exclude Jews from German economic life came into force and thus robbed most of the Jews of their livelihood. The city of Hamm came to the conclusion "that the synagogues are primarily the subject of popular outrage". On November 19, 1938 the order to demolish the synagogue was issued to the synagogue board. The addressee, Hugo Lindemeyer (Brückstrasse 11) was already in the Oranienburg-Sachsenhausen concentration camp at that time. His representatives Noa Meyberg (Widumstraße 47) and Julius Rosenberg (Stiftstraße 6) agreed to the demolition, but pointed out that the community lacked the financial means. They suggested that the demolition should be carried out by the city and that the costs should be offset against any subsequent purchase of the entire property. But city councilor Daniel, who had also signed the demolition order, did not agree and stated that this reason did not release the community from the obligation to demolish. November 24, 1938 was set as the latest starting date for the demolition, and replacement measures were threatened if this was not done. These were also carried out at the turn of the year. The city took care of the demolition itself and charged the Jewish community for it.

In 1939 Jewish community members were arrested and deported for the first time.

In 1940 about 200–300 Hammer Jews escaped abroad.

On April 27, 1942, Hammer Jews were deported to Zamosc , in the same year 22 elderly people were deported to Theresienstadt. On February 27, 1943, Jews from Hamm were deported to Auschwitz concentration camp . In May 1943, men from so-called mixed marriages were sentenced to forced labor. On September 29, 1944, women and children from “mixed marriages” were deported to a forced camp near Kassel. At the beginning of 1945 men were deported from the forced labor camp to the Theresienstadt concentration camp .

In 1953 there were hardly any noteworthy remains of the Jewish community in Hamm. Since an independent community could not be maintained, the remaining Hammer Jews joined the Jewish community of Greater Dortmund.

synagogue

The Hammer Jews are said to have had a synagogue as early as 1768. By 1831 at the latest, there was a Jewish prayer house on the area at Martin-Luther-Straße 5.

The later synagogue of the city of Hamm was built in 1868 on the site of today's Santa-Monica-Platz in Martin-Luther-Straße 5a ( 51 ° 40 ′ 49.5 ″  N , 7 ° 49 ′ 6 ″  E ) according to the construction plans of Julius Lenhartz and inaugurated on September 12, 1868. The synagogue was desecrated and looted during the Reichspogromnacht on November 9, 1938, and the inventory was destroyed. A few days later, on November 19, the city ordered the demolition of the building and carried it out at the turn of the year 1938/39. The costs were billed to the Jewish community.

prehistory

The Jews in Hamm apparently had a house of worship in earlier centuries. It was located in the backyard of what would later become Martin-Luther-Strasse 5 and was accessible from Ruschenstrasse (Königstrasse) via a narrow alley. Proves the existence of a prayer house at this point for the year 1831. This terrain in the area of present-day Santa Monica Square was initially privately owned and could only pass on the community during the 19th century, as these long time without corporate law was .

It was not until the Prussian constitution of 1850 that it became possible to transfer the synagogue from private ownership to municipal ownership. However, it took a long time for the community and authorities to become familiar with this reorganization of things. Elias Marks owned several houses in this quarter, along with gardens and courtyards, along with the outbuildings, barns and stables located there, according to the deed book for the Hammer original cadastre from 1828. The synagogue building at that time was also part of his property under the name “Parzelle Flur V No. 736/443”. The residential building on Kleine Weststrasse 5, which later became Martin-Luther-Strasse 5, together with its attached stable (plot Corridor V No. 736/442) formed the direct connection from the synagogue to Martin-Luther-Strasse. Israel Gerson , Seligmann Bacharach , Elias Marks, Levi Stern and Elias Spanier bought this house on January 27, 1842 for 900 thalers. They wanted to give it to their congregation so that they could build a synagogue and a school on it.

The synagogue district, which originally only covered the city of Hamm, was enlarged by the law of February 10, 1855 by the Rhynern office . The first meeting of the community council took place on December 15, 1855, and on February 28, 1858 the construction of the synagogue was considered. But it would take until 1868 before it could be carried out. Initially, the donation of the four parishioners to the parish was not approved due to the lack of corporation rights . On December 13, 1865, however, negotiations were repeated. The transfer of ownership should be approved under the following conditions: a teacher should live in the house; the latter had to keep a room ready for poor Jews of both sexes who were traveling through and look after them at the community's expense. The community rejected the last condition, so it was eventually dropped. No further conditions were issued. On September 12, 1966, the donation was finally confirmed from Berlin.

After all, the Arnsberg district government had already given the Jewish community permission on July 11, 1846 to open a private Jewish elementary school in the residential building that had just been acquired . In May 1848, the Jewish drawing teacher Philipp Eduard Bacharach complained in a letter to the local community about the poor condition of the community center (house and school building at Martin-Luther-Strasse 5). The synagogue must have been in a similar condition at the time. But the community had to make do until 1868, when the long overdue new building could actually be carried out.

The plan for the new building of the synagogue

The board of directors of the synagogue community Hamm, represented by Messrs. Löb, Cahn and Spanier, signed a so-called "Enterprise Contract" with the architect and building contractor Julius Lenhartz in March 1868 , in which both sides agreed to build a synagogue on the two community-owned ones Plots of corridor V No. 442 and No. 443 agreed. Lenhartz completed the “ draft for a new synagogue in Hamm ” on February 22, 1868. District architect Westphal revised the plan on February 24, 1868.

Construction work

The new synagogue , which was built according to the blueprints of Julius Lenhartz, was built in place of the previous building and on September 12, 1868 by the famous reform rabbi Dr. David Rothschild inaugurated.

Demolition of the synagogue in the Third Reich

During the November pogroms on November 9, 1938 , the synagogue was desecrated, devastated and looted. Burning down was out of the question due to the risk of fire due to the dense development of the old town. The final destruction took place in late 1938 / early 1939. The city demolished the synagogue and charged the Jewish community for the costs .

Most members of the Jewish community were deported to the extermination camps during the Nazi era if they could not escape to safety abroad.

post war period

After the end of the war, this area of ​​the city center was used as a parking lot and a public toilet was built over the site of the synagogue. This unworthy condition was preserved for about 50 years. In 1986 a wooden memorial plaque was set up by Naturfreunde Hamm-Mitte and then a fundraising campaign for a permanent solution was launched together with the Westfälischer Anzeiger. After a year, this money was handed over to the then head of the Department of Culture, Helmut Fortmann, who, with further financial support from the city of Hamm, arranged for a memorial stone to be erected. Former Jewish residents of Hamm were also invited to the inauguration, so that the shameful situation became clear, namely that a public toilet had been built on the site of the former synagogue. This led to a public discussion about a worthy memory of the synagogue, which was also used in the redesign of the parking lot. The toilet facility was torn down to create space for a memorial. After a long discussion about the nature of the memorial, during which a reconstruction of the synagogue was also considered, a memorial now (since December 2003) that shows the outline of the synagogue commemorates the Jewish house of worship, the Jewish school at 5 Kleine Weststraße, but also of the lost, formerly pulsating life of the religious community and its destruction.

The memorial was designed by Wilfried Hagebölling from Paderborn. The bus stop, which is right next to it, is now called "Old Synagogue / Market".

Since 1984 the working group “Week of Fraternity” has been fighting against anti-Semitic ideas with its commitment to tolerance towards religious and ethnic minorities in Hamm and promoting understanding for Judaism. High-ranking representatives speak at his annual events, which are held in November in memory of the pogrom night of November 9, 1938, in particular about the coexistence of Jews and Germans today.

Since 2008 stumbling blocks have been laid in Hamm, which remind of persecuted Hammer Jews.

The former Jewish cemetery

Since the Jews were not allowed to be buried in the “Christian churchyard”, they were assigned a cemetery on the north wall between the royal castle or Renteihof and the monastery . Access was via Judengasse.

The prison of that time was located near this location, which was 1½ meters above the wall and was originally protected by a high wall. The Counts of Mark granted in spite of the reluctance of citizens to the Jews on their count's estate on Nordenwall always safety, security and accommodation. (This is exactly what other rulers did, such as the Counts of Tecklenburg . They allowed the Jews freedom and practice of their religion on their castle grounds in Rheda.) The Jewish cemetery on the north side of the prison, which has been preserved for centuries, lays off Testimony. Until around 1800, when the Ostenfriedhof was laid out through the efforts of Mayor Möller, the Hammer Jews always buried their dead on the count's property on the Nordenwall. This is evidenced by a document from 1768, in which General von Wolffersdorff, as a resident of the count's castle or Renteihof, and the Jewish community made agreements on the ownership of the cemetery.

The Jewish cemetery used to be surrounded by a wall. However, this gradually fell into disrepair, so that the area was used as a wood yard for the adjoining Renteihof . When the number of Jews in Hamm had increased to eleven families again, the Jewish community, represented by An (s) chel Herz, turned to Karl Friedrich von Wolffersdorff on this matter with a petition . This document stated that the wall around the Jewish churchyard had collapsed and that the community had left the rubble because of the costs. In the meantime the community has grown to eleven families and now wants to build a wall again. The community entered into negotiations with Wolffersdorff until it was finally agreed that he should build a wall around the Jewish cemetery for 300 Reichsthalers, so that “this place should not be used for any other purpose than sacred use, the bones of their ancestors on it for eternity to preserve and have her burial place there, and no one as of old, so even now has the slightest right to it or should presume ”. This contract between the Jews in Hamm and General von Wolffersdorff was confirmed on July 24, 1768 by the Chamber Deputation College in Hamm. It also says:

“Since we have so far for lack of space, because (we) the courtyard (of the castle) to He. Majesty service, (namely) the parades to drill on it, were forced to put the firewood right at the castle or so-called Rentei-Hof on the wall, where however the praiseworthy Jews had their churchyard for unimaginable years, but these were dermaled Royal protected and privileged Jews willing (is) to build a wall around their churchyard on the north wall as before: So at that time (now) the chief elder and head of the Märkische Jews, Mr. Amschel Herz, presented such a thing to me and therefore among us It was agreed that at no time should this place be defined as a sacred use, to preserve the bones of their ancestors on it until eternity and to have their burial place there, and that no one should have the slightest right to it as from time immemorial or even now should be allowed to presume how all wood will be cleared from it as if it were right, and there was a wall around it before, so at the same time I made a wholehearted demand for the sum of 300 thalers, as 200 thalers Tourant and 100 T. Louisd'or, whose receipt was also acknowledged, a wall around this one that had always existed and was completely undisturbed by the laudable Jews owned churchyard, than in the length of the churchyard of four feet above the ground on the same ground where the wall used to be, which begins right at the wall of the so-called castle or rented yard up to and including the monastery where the so-called Judengasse vom Walle begins that after measurement of the Kgl. Mr. Landbaumeister's cracks in the Juden Kirchhof to the Renteihof or east side is 23 feet wide and in the middle 16 feet and down to the west side 16 feet and the entire length from the castle or Renteihof to Judengasse is 194½ feet, and there to this wall the Stones, lime, sand and glue (?) Also wall wages and henchmen wages even paid (paid) in cash will amount to about as high as mentioned above, so at the same time recourse to the most succinct before me and my descendants, at no time to form praeterhores (?) about this, nor to allow such to happen by others, since everything is (is) paid for in cash by the laudable Jewry, as mentioned above, rather insure the same with parole d'honneur (the) same with this to protect justice for more than 100 years, although it is still conditional that the local Jews want to make the wall too low and make them higher, or to put an expatriate (?) on it They are free to do as they please, but then have to do this at their own expense, such as the door to the entrance, lock and other ironwork. "

“As a true document and detention, I not only signed this with my own hand, but also sealed it with the regiment seal, also with my innate baron seal. This is what happened in Hamm in October-March of the 1768th year. "

“Friedrich von Wolffersdorf, Er. Majesty of the King of Prussia appointed Gen. Major of the Army and Chief of an Infantry Regiment. "

When the east cemetery was established at the gates of the city of Hamm in 1800 , Anschel Hertz , the head superior of the Klevisch- Markische Jewry, who lived in Hamm, obtained a petition to the Märkische War and Domain Chamber in Hamm that the Jewish cemetery could initially be retained. However, after the Franciscan monastery was closed in 1824, the official decree was issued in February 1825 that burials were no longer permitted in the Jewish cemetery either. Although the new burials were now carried out in the Jewish part of the Ostenfriedhof, there were still more than 20 gravestones in the old Jewish cemetery in the 1920s. In 1927 there was still a drawing of the cemetery in the possession of the Jewish community, which was made by the royal Prussian master builder of the county, Mark Gottfried Risse . The following details could be seen on it: The house of the master builder Risse was at the place where the prison administrators' apartments later stood, then the Judengasse (later Franziskanerstraße) followed, then the monastery buildings with the monastery garden (in 1927 the Prison from 1857), and further to the east the Renteihausgarten (1927: garden of the catholic infant home, today: location of the retirement home). To the north of the monastery garden was the Jewish cemetery at that time, to the north of this the Wallgang (1927 and to this day Nordenwall) and to the north of it the garden that belonged to Wolffersdorff. In 1954 the city of Hamm bought the area and had the remaining tombstones moved to the Jewish part of the East Cemetery.

literature

  • Ingrid Bauert-Keertman, Norbert Kattenborn, Liesedore Langhammer, Willy Timm, Herbert Zink: Hamm. Chronicle of a city. Cologne 1965.
  • Mechthild Brand: By no means voluntarily - Ilse Schidlof and her life between Nazi persecution and the present . Hamm 2008.
  • Mechtild Brand: But the synagogue didn't burn at all . In: Hammer Reading Book: Stories from the History of the City , Essen 1991.
  • Mechtild Brand: Respected - outlawed. From the life of Hammer Jews in this century. Hamm: City of Hamm, 1991.
  • Anna Dartmann: The social, economic and cultural development of the Jewish community in Hamm. 1327–1943 , Hamm undated (= facts and reports 24).
  • Josef Lappe , Eichhoff. In: 700 years of Hamm (Westphalia) . Festschrift to commemorate the 700th anniversary of the city. Hamm 1927, reprint Werl 1973.
  • Josef Osterhoff: The area for the Ostenfriedhof cost 971 thalers in 1799. For reasons of hygiene, Hamm's burial grounds were relocated outside of the city center . In: Unser Westfalen , 2007, pp. 9-10.
  • Ilsemarie von Scheven: The historic ring systems of Hamm , ed. by the Lord Mayor of Hamm, Hamm 2006, Fig. 39.
  • Andreas Skopnik: Open the gates of justice . Hamm 1995.
  • Information boards in the exhibition on the history of Hamm in the Gustav-Lübcke-Museum Hamm .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Karl Mayer, Die Juden in der Grafschaft Mark und Dortmund , pp. 49 and 50.
  2. ↑ For the entire section: Dr. Josef Lappe, Dr. Eichhoff in: 700 years of Hamm (Westphalia) , commemorative publication commemorating the 700th anniversary of the city, Hamm 1927, reprint Werl 1973.
  3. ↑ Dr. Josef Lappe. In: 700 years of Hamm (Westphalia) . Festschrift to commemorate the 700th anniversary of the city. Hamm 1927; Reprint Werl 1973
  4. ↑ Quoted from Friedrich J [ohannes] Wienstein: Jüdische Bürger in Hamm . In: WAK , January 30, 1960.
  5. ↑ In the German Empire. 1908. Issue 3. pp. 177-178.
  6. ↑ Dr. Josef Lappe, Dr. Eichhoff. In: 700 years of Hamm (Westphalia) . Festschrift commemorating the 700th anniversary of the city, Hamm 1927, reprint Werl 1973
  7. ↑ Ingrid Bauert-Keertman, Norbert Kattenberg Born, Liesedore Langhammer, Willy Timm, Herbert zinc: Hamm. Chronicle of a city . Cologne 1965.
  8. ↑ a b c d e f Andreas Skopnik: Opens the gates of justice, Hamm 1995.
  9. ↑ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u Information board in the municipal Gustav-Lübcke-Museum Hamm.
  10. ↑ a b c d Mechtild Brand: But the synagogue didn't burn at all , in: Hammer Reading Book: Stories from the History of the City , Essen 1991, p. 211.
  11. ↑ Mechtild Brand: But the synagogue didn't burn at all , in: Hammer Reading Book: Stories from the History of the City , Essen 1991, pp. 211/212
  12. ↑ a b Mechtild Brand: But the synagogue didn't burn at all , in: Hammer Reading Book: Stories from the History of the City , Essen 1991, p. 215 ff.
  13. ^ These were handed over to the regional association of the Jewish communities of Westphalia in 1953; Skopnik 1995, p. 35.
  14. ↑ a b Mechtild Brand: But the synagogue didn't burn at all , in: Hammer Reading Book: Stories from the History of the City , Essen 1991, pp. 211/212 ff.
  15. ^ Jewish community of Groß-Dortmund
  16. ↑ a b Dr. Eichhoff in: 700 Years of Hamm (Westphalia) , commemorative publication commemorating the 700th anniversary of the city, Hamm 1927, reprint Werl 1973, p. 165.
  17. ^ Synagogue in the Hamm Wiki
  18. ↑ HammWiki
  19. ↑ Remembrance, responsibility, future. 25 years “Week of Brotherhood in Hamm” 1984–2009 , ed. from the working group "Week of Brotherhood", Hamm (2009)
  20. ↑ www.Stolpersteine.com
  21. ↑ Hermann Eickhoff: From the church and school history of Hamm . In: 700 years of the city of Hamm . Edited by the city council of Hamm. Hamm 1927, reprint Werl 1973, p. 166.
  22. ^ Anna Dartmann: The social, economic and cultural development of the Jewish community in Hamm. 1327–1943 , Hamm n.d. (= facts and reports 24), p. 44.
  23. ^ Wilhelm Ribhegge: State, society and denomination in Hamm in the 19th century. On the foundation of the St. Marien Hospital Hamm 1849 , in: Westfälische Zeitschrift 150, Paderborn 2000, pp. 149–166, here: p. 153.
  24. ↑ Also: Dr. Josef Lappe, Dr. Eichhoff in: 700 years of Hamm (Westphalia) , commemorative publication commemorating the 700th anniversary of the city, Hamm 1927, reprint Werl 1973.