Pyritz
General information: First Jewish presence: 1481; peak Jewish population: 327 in 1871; Jewish population in 1933: 100
Summary: In 1705, seven Jewish families lived in Pyritz (present-day
Pyrzyce, Poland). Pyritz’s Jewish cemetery, consecrated (at the
latest) in 1735, was located near Muehlengraben, bordering
the city cemetery. We do not know when the community
opened its modest synagogue on Wollenbergstrasse, but
records suggest that it was as early as 1794; in 1870, the
synagogue was moved to a new building.
This flourishing Orthodox congregation employed a rabbi
from 1850 to 1893, after which a community official served
as spiritual leader of the congregation. Local Jews maintained
a sisterhood, a charity group, a chevra kadisha and a library.
In 1895, right before the community membership
started to dwindle, Jews made up 3 percent of the general
population.
Nazi boycotts crippled what remained of Pyritz’s Jewish
business community. In April 1935, a gang of Hitler Youth
members broke the synagogue’s windows. That same year,
a branch of the German Zionist organization was founded
in Pyritz.
The synagogue was burned down on Pogrom Night. More
than 70 Pyritz Jews were murdered in the camps.
Author / Sources: Ruth Martina Trucks
Sources: EJL, LJG, FJG, YV
Sources: EJL, LJG, FJG, YV
Located in: pomerania