Synagogue (Saarwellingen)

The synagogue was built in 1929 at Engelstrasse 10 in Saarwellingen in the Saarlouis district . The interior was destroyed during the November pogroms in 1938 . The synagogue was badly damaged during the Second World War . Today there is a residential building at this point.

synagogue

A prayer room in a private house in Saarwellingen is mentioned as early as 1770. In 1928 the plans for the construction of a synagogue at Engelstrasse 10 were approved, and the company moved into it in 1929. During the November pogroms in 1938, the interior and the windows were destroyed by members of the SA . Since it was feared that the flames would spread to neighboring buildings, it was decided not to set the synagogue on fire. Between 1941/42 the synagogue was used as a meeting room for the Saarwellingen Nazi women and the Hitler Youth . Later it served as an emergency gym. The synagogue was badly damaged during the war years of 1944/45. In the 1950s, a residential building was built on the property, part of which stands on the still-preserved walls of the synagogue. In 1998 a memorial stele was erected near the former synagogue.

The inscription reads:

"As a reminder and reminder.
The church and school of the Saarwellingen synagogue community were on this street.
The synagogue was destroyed on November 9, 1938.
The Jewish citizens had to leave Saarwellingen.
51 Saarwellingen citizens of Jewish faith perished in the concentration camps. "

Saarwellingen Jewish Community

Jewish residents in Saarwellingen are mentioned as early as 1671. In the Principality of Wied-Runkel belonging imperial rule Saarwellingen in 1781 lived a total of 25 Jewish families. The dead were buried in the Jewish cemetery laid out in 1725 . The cemetery was almost completely destroyed in 1940. The community, which is part of the Trier rabbinical district, had a private religious school from 1830 and a public Jewish elementary school from 1890 . From 1907 this was housed in its own school building at Engelstrasse 12, which was adjacent to the synagogue. The employed teacher held the function of prayer leader and schochet at the same time . As early as 1920, when the Saar area was still under the mandate of the League of Nations , there were first anti-Semitic riots in Saarwellingen. After the seizure of power of Adolf Hitler in 1933, the administrative authorities of the Saarland referred to the local police authorities, any boycott attempts by members and sympathizers of the NSDAP to stop. After the referendum in 1935 and the associated connection of the Saar region to the German Reich , almost all Jewish residents emigrated. During the November pogroms in 1938, the interior of the synagogue and the Jewish apartments were destroyed and the Jewish residents still living in Saarwellingen were mistreated. On the night of November 12th to 13th, 1938, an attempt was made to deport the remaining Jewish residents to France. This failed, however, because of the resistance of the French customs officers, who forbade members of the Jewish community to enter France. After returning to Saarwellingen, they lived in two Jewish houses. The synagogue was sold to the community for 500 Reichsmarks. The last remaining Jewish residents of Saarwellingen were deported to the Gurs internment camp on October 22, 1940 .

Development of the Jewish population

year	Jews	Jewish families
1781		25th
1808/1809	108
1831	125
1843	142
1855	167
1871	199
1885	222
1895	191
1900	177
1910	154
1925	146
1933	134
1936	24
Early 1939	17th
September 1940	8 or 9
↑ Different numbers are available in the sources for 1940

Sources: alemannia-judaica.de; jewische-gemeinden.de; Cilli Kasper-Holtkatte: Jews on the move. On the social history of a minority in the Saar-Moselle area around 1800.

The memorial book - Victims of the Persecution of Jews under the National Socialist Tyranny 1933–1945 lists 76 members and the Central Database of the Names of the Holocaust Victims of Yad Vashem 79 members of the Saarwellingen Jewish community (who were born or lived there) who were born or lived there during the period the Nazis were killed.

literature

• Hans Peter Klauck, Klaus Mayer: The cord is loosened - the tie broken: The Jewish community Saarwellingen 1700-1940. In: Publications of the Association for Local Studies in the District of Saarlouis eV (= Publications of the Association for Local Studies in the District of Saarlouis eV, special volume 17). Association for local history in the Saarlouis district, Saarwellingen 2013, ISBN 978-3-933926-00-5 .
• Hans Peter Klauck: Jewish life in the city and in the district of Saarlouis 1680–1940. In: Publications of the Association for Local Studies in the Saarlouis district. (= Publications of the Association for Local Studies in the Saarlouis District . Volume 20). 2016, ISBN 978-3-933926-65-4 .
• Werner Müller: The Jewish minority in the Saarlouis district: Political, socio-economic and cultural aspects of their living situation from the Ancien Régime to National Socialism. In: Writings of the Saarlouis district (= writings of the Saarlouis district. Volume 1). Röhrig, St. Ingbert 1993, ISBN 978-3-861100-25-6 .

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b c} Saarwellingen (Saarlouis district) Jewish history / prayer hall / synagogue . alemannia-judaica.de. Retrieved January 6, 2020.
2. ↑ ^{a b c} Saarwellingen (Saarland) . jewische-gemeinden.de. Retrieved January 6, 2020.
3. ^ Former synagogue in Saarwellingen . Landesjugendring Saar eV Retrieved January 6, 2020.
4. ↑ ^{a b} 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 )
5. ↑ Commemorative Book Victims of the Persecution of Jews under the National Socialist Tyranny in Germany 1933–1945 . Federal Archives. Retrieved January 6, 2020.
6. ^ Central database of the names of Holocaust victims . Yad Vashem - International Holocaust Memorial. Retrieved January 6, 2020.