Brilon Jewish Community
The Jewish life in Brilon in Hochsauerlandkreis , North Rhine-Westphalia , can be traced back to the 13th century. The Brilon Jewish Community existed from the 17th century until 1943.
history
A Jewish resident of Brilon was first mentioned in 1297 as a Johannes dictus Judäus medicus (a doctor called Jude Johannes).
17th century
A Jewish community had existed since the 17th century, the members had moved from southern and western Germany. Due to sovereign privileges, they were able to live in Brilon as so-called protective Jews . Despite resistance from the inhabitants, small settlements formed consisting of escaped Jews, those who had been escorted (residence permits) from the sovereign. The district of Brilon belonged to the Duchy of Westphalia ; Since the adoption of the Electoral Cologne Jewish Code on June 28, 1700, only those who owned at least 1,000 Reichstaler could get an escort for a city. Proof of 600 thalers was required for an escort in the country. The electoral authorities issued the letter of safe conduct and cost 20 thalers.
18th century
The Jews in the Duchy of Westphalia formed a corporation under the supervision of the government in the 18th century . It was headed by a salaried headman who, with three helpers, managed Jewish community affairs. There is no concrete information about the life of Jewish families during this period, and there are isolated anti-Jewish incidents. The city of Brilon initiated a lawsuit in 1712 because a Christian girl had breastfed a Jewish child with her Christian milk . The Catholic pastor Bernhard Wiemann tried to convert a Jew around 1720, without success. But he has found resistance from his own members of his community. In 1783 there were riots against Jews twice. A Jew's pear tree was chopped up to make firewood for the grammar school and the students of the grammar school smashed the stalls of Arnsberg Jews on the Brilon market for a reward from the Brilon merchants and then beat up the Arnsbergers.
19th century
There are several documents about the life of Jewish families in Brilon and also about the everyday hostility that faced them. In terms of culture and religion, the Jews led a largely isolated life in the synagogue community. The community was represented by an elected board, the women had no right to vote . The board of directors took care of the Jewish private schools and cultivated the religious customs and traditions. The community's religious officials were the synagogue servant , a prayer leader and the teacher. Joseph Abraham Friedländer , a Jew from Brilon , was appointed Chief Rabbi of the rural Jews of the Duchy of Westphalia in 1832 at the age of 80 .
During the time of Napoleon and also when the province of Westphalia was founded in 1815 , there was no improvement for the Jews of the former Duchy of Westphalia. They were still protective relatives . The revised town order of 1837 did not bring any improvement either. On the contrary, attempts were made again and again to worsen the legal position of the Jews even further. For example, the Jews in the Arnsberg administrative district were forbidden from selling brandy , although this was still allowed in other places. In order to reduce economic competition, the people of Brilon tried again and again to limit the number of Jewish families in the area. In 1840 the magistrate referred to the city's statutes, according to which the elector had assigned a maximum of ten escorts to Jews in the wake of the Jewish code of 1700. However, the application of the magistrate to the Prussian Ministry of the Interior to allow immigration to be restricted was rejected.
The Brilon shooting club played a major role in the social life of the city of Brilon . The statutes of the association excluded the admission of Jews, so that the Jewish fellow citizens were also disadvantaged when participating in social life. The law of June 23, 1847 was seen as an improvement. The Jewish communities were given a lower legal status than the Christian ones, but at least they were recognized by the government as corporations under public law .
The freedom of movement in Germany and the right to stand for election to the municipal magistrates were seen as further progress. The Jews were predominantly active in the clothing trade, in the food sector and as butchers. They did not practice any craft trades. For centuries, as non-Christian competition from Christians, Jews were excluded from crafts and agriculture. A contemporary report says: The Jews cultivated every branch of trade as far as it was profitable. ... They played a role in the city's business life, after all, through their money. ... No Jew practiced any trade, they were all traders and businessmen. ... Agriculture was also not their thing. For most Christians, Jewish culture remained incomprehensible.
The Sauerländer Anzeiger reported on two anti-Semitic incidents. In 1877 there was a disruption of the Jewish worship service, and in 1884 five corpse stones in the Jewish cemetery were partially destroyed or overturned. In order to maintain their previously acquired civil status and to defend themselves against anti-Semitism , the Brilon Jews founded an association that belonged to the Central Association of German Citizens of the Jewish Faith . The weekly newspaper for the district of Brilon was published by Moritz Friedländer since 1842 and replaced by the Sauerländischer Anzeiger in 1851. At that time it was the only local newspaper, and it was also published by Friedländer. The edition was 180 copies in 1851. The publication was discontinued in 1904, the competitive pressure from the center-near Briloner Anzeiger, which was founded in 1893, had become too great.
20th century
At the end of 1927, party members Wagner and Nierfeld founded a local group of the NSDAP in Brilon, which in 1928 had ten members. In the Reichstag elections in 1930 , the NSDAP in Brilon won 7.3%, 1932 12.4%, 1933 24.3% and 1938 99.5%. The NSDAP now shaped the political climate and took over the opinion leadership. Men in SA uniforms increasingly appeared and also occupied the spectator seats in uniform at the city council meetings. Several National Socialist organizations founded local groups in Brilon, and after a propaganda march through the city, an SS local group was founded in May 1933 .
Immediately after Adolf Hitler's appointment as Chancellor , anti-Jewish agitation was increased. On February 28, 1933, the ordinance for the protection of the people and the state was passed and the basic rights of the Weimar constitution were repealed. In March 1933 the party leadership issued a call to all NSDAP subdivisions to immediately establish action committees for the practical, planned implementation of the boycott of Jewish shops, Jewish goods, Jewish lawyers and Jewish doctors . It should be made clear to the population that Germans no longer buy from Jews. Boycott signs were erected on the Brilon market square and remained there. Dr. Hans Rothschild, a Brilon Jew, photographed one of these signs and was arrested as a result.
On March 28, 1933, members of the NSDAP closed the Jewish shops for one day. The propaganda ward for the Brilon district issued a final warning in August 1933 not to go shopping in Jewish shops. Pension owners were informed in a letter: We point out to the owners that it is their own fault if National Socialist men avoid the houses and verandas where Jewish women and men roam. In addition, owners of restaurants, baths etc. were threatened with boycotts if they allowed Jews to enter. In September 1933 the Sauerländer Zeitung drew attention to a sign for the German shop that was only given to members of a National Socialist association; all party members should only buy in such shops. The Jewish fur, hide and cattle traders were banned from trading in Brilon in 1937.
In April 1938 the ordinance on the registration of Jewish property was issued . The possibilities of life were thereby further restricted and the later expropriation was prepared. The Brilon synagogue went up in flames during the Reichspogromnacht . After the pogrom night, 15 Jewish men were arrested in Brilon, 11 of them were taken to the Sachsenhausen concentration camp , the other four were released from custody after some time.
To finance their escape abroad, a number of Jews sold their houses and businesses. The prices could not exceed the unit value, otherwise the sale would not be approved. The district president instructed the district administrator in Brilon to act in close consultation with the local party authorities when it comes to setting and monitoring prices for the sale of Jewish property. In the event of a significant difference between the purchase price and the market value of a business for a new Aryan owner, a compensation levy was provided to the German Reich. There it was stipulated that dejudification profits are generally valued at 70% of the surplus value (difference between purchase price and market value). Only in the rarest of cases could the Jewish sellers receive a reasonable purchase price. When the property on which the synagogue had stood was sold to the city of Brilon, a letter was noted: The purchase price was not paid at the time. A total of 36 property sales were made in Brilon after the introduction of the permit requirement.
At the end of 1938, the Jewish children were excluded from general school attendance. In April 1939 the law on tenancy agreements with Jews was passed. Jewish tenants now had to leave their apartments and were separated from the rest of the population in Jewish houses on Königstrasse and Mariengasse. These houses were cleared again in 1942 to accommodate war widows. All Jews were housed in a residential building on Friedrichstrasse. After the Aryan house owner's objection, the house was moved to another house on Königstrasse. Eleven Jewish men were committed to forced labor in various Brilon factories ; the working hours were up to twelve hours; full wages - the agreed amount was RM 120 per month - was not always paid. Two forced laborers had a fatal accident in 1943. Foreign slave laborers were also in Brilon. From 1944 to March 1945, a camp was maintained in the powder mill area, from which the forced laborers were driven to felling wood for gasoline tanks for military vehicles.
Instructions for the deportation of Jews from Brilon were issued in March 1942. The Brilon Jewish Cultural Association was forced to help with the preparations for their removal. It was also precisely regulated how the property of the Jews was to be secured, as well as what to do with the living space left behind. Eleven Jews from Brilon were deported in April 1942. They all came to Zomosc, no survivors of this transport are known. The next deportation took place in July 1942 and then another in March 1943, during which 15 people were deported to the Auschwitz extermination camp . The last deportation from Brilon was in May 1943, the five remaining Brilon Jews were taken to the Theresienstadt concentration camp .
On June 16, 1933, 75 Jews lived in Brilon, and none on May 8, 1945. A total of 103 Jews lost their lives during the Nazi terror.
21st century
At the request of the youth parliament in Brilon, 120 stumbling blocks are to remind of the persecution under National Socialism. 22 places of residence were documented in a brochure.
See also
literature
- Sigrid Blömeke, Hans-Günther Bracht, Gisela Kemper, with the collaboration of Wolfgang Arnolds: Jews in Brilon at the time of National Socialism. Documents, family fates, testimonies from contemporary witnesses. Democratic Initiative, Association for the Promotion of Social, Cultural and Political Education e. V., Brilon 1988, ISBN 3-9801960-0-3 .