Synagogue (Sötern)

The synagogue was set up around 1817 in the Nohfelden district of Sötern at Hauptstrasse 30 in a residential building. The interior of the synagogue was destroyed during the November pogroms in 1938 . The building itself was not destroyed and is now used as a residential and commercial building.

synagogue

The synagogue was established around 1817 in a former residential building in Sötern at Hauptstraße 30. The funds needed were raised by four members of the Jewish community. Between 1819 and 1880 the rooms of the Jewish school were located in the basement of the synagogue. Until the construction of the mikveh at Hauptstrasse 13 in 1841, it was probably housed in the basement of the synagogue. After the planned new construction of a synagogue was never carried out, the synagogue was rebuilt and renovated in 1841, 1851 and for the last time in 1906. During the November pogroms in 1938, the interior of the synagogue was destroyed by order of the NSDAP district leader Ernst Diedenhofen . Since it was feared that the flames would spread to the surrounding houses, it was decided not to burn down the synagogue. Until 1945 the synagogue was used as accommodation for foreign workers and as a horse stable. After 1945 the building was converted into a residential and commercial building. In the 1960s it was used as a gas station. Today it serves as a residential building and bank branch.

Jewish community of Sötern

The first members of the Jewish religious community settled in Sötern as early as the 17th century. Due to the liberal Jewish policy of the Counts of Dürkheim , the number of Jewish community members rose sharply in the following years. This also continued in the years when Sötern belonged to the Grand Duchy of Oldenburg , which pursued a similarly liberal Jewish policy. Between 1831 and 1910 the community had an initially private and later public Jewish elementary school . This was housed in the basement of the synagogue until 1880. From 1880 the school had its own building (Weiherdamm 11). The dead were buried in the Jewish cemetery laid out in 1680 . In the course of the increasing industrialization of the Saarland, in the last third of the 19th century, many members of the Jewish community moved to other cities. After the seizure of power of Adolf Hitler in 1933 and after the referendum in 1935 and the associated connecting the Saar to the German Reich emigrated many of the Jewish residents. During the November pogroms in 1938, the members of the community were forced to destroy the synagogue's inventory. The last Jewish residents, with one exception, were deported in April and July 1942. Ernst Michel Hirsch, who was married to a non-Jewish woman, was not deported in 1942. In 1945 he escaped deportation because he was warned and was able to hide.

Development of the Jewish population

year	Jews	Jewish families
1716		15th
1756		7th
1790		9
1791	41
1799		15th
1808	95
1817	107
circa 1820	110
1846	243
1858	221
1885	153
1890	99
1900	107
1933	90
1941	35

Source: alemannia-judaica.de; jewische-gemeinden.de

In the memorial book - Victims of the Persecution of Jews under National Socialist Tyranny 1933–1945 and in the Central Database of the Names of the Holocaust Victims of Yad Vashem , 79 members of the Jewish community Sötern (who were born there or lived temporarily) are listed who were born during the time of National Socialism were murdered.

literature

• Cilli Kasper-Holtkatte: Jews on the move. On the social history of a minority in the Saar-Mosel area around 1800. In: Helmut Castritius (Ed.), Alfred Haverkamp (Ed.), Franz Irsigler (Ed.), Stefi Jersch-Wenzel (Ed.): Research on the history of the Jews (= Research on the history of the Jews. Volume 3). Hahnsche Buchhandlung Verlag, Hanover 1996, ISBN 978-3775256124 . ( Digitized versionhttp: //vorlage_digitalisat.test/1%3Dhttps%3A%2F%2Fubt.opus.hbz-nrw.de%2Fopus45-ubtr%2Ffrontdoor%2Fdeliver%2Findex%2FdocId%2F778%2Ffile%2FFGJA3_GB3Dpdf .Holt IA% 3D ~ MDZ% 3D% 0A ~ SZ% 3D ~ double-sided% 3D ~ LT% 3D ~ PUR% 3D )
• Michael Landau (Ed.): So that it is not forgotten. Contributions to the history of the synagogue communities in the St. Wendel district. In: Publications of the Adolf Bender Center eV (= Publications of the Adolf Bender Center eV Volume 1). St. Wendel 1988.

Web links

• Jewish life in the community of Nohfelden. Adolf-Bender-Zentrum eV, accessed on January 5, 2020 . 

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b} school in Sötern . Adolf-Bender-Zentrum eV Accessed January 5, 2020.
2. ↑ Mikveh in Sötern . Adolf-Bender-Zentrum eV Accessed January 5, 2020.
3. ↑ ^{a b c} Sötern (municipality of Nohfelden, district of St. Wendel) . alemannia-judaica.de. Retrieved January 5, 2020.
4. ↑ ^{a b c} Sötern (Saarland) . jewische-gemeinden.de. Retrieved January 5, 2020.
5. ↑ Cilli Kasper-Holtkatte: Jews on the move. On the social history of a minority in the Saar-Mosel area around 1800. In: Helmut Castritius (Ed.), Alfred Haverkamp (Ed.), Franz Irsigler (Ed.), Stefi Jersch-Wenzel (Ed.): Research on the history of the Jews (= Research on the history of the Jews. Volume 3). Hahnsche Buchhandlung Verlag, Hanover 1996, ISBN 978-3775256124 . ( online )
6. ↑ Commemorative Book Victims of the Persecution of Jews under the National Socialist Tyranny in Germany 1933–1945 . Federal Archives. Retrieved January 5, 2020.
7. ^ Central database of the names of Holocaust victims . Yad Vashem - International Holocaust Memorial. Retrieved January 5, 2020.

Coordinates: 49 ° 35 '43.4 "  N , 7 ° 3' 53.7"  E