Jessnitz/Mulde
General information: First Jewish presence: 1680; peak Jewish population: 165 in 1835- 40; Jewish population in 1933: 29
Summary: The Jews of Jessnitz acquired properties for the establishment
of a school and a synagogue in 1744 and 1796, respectively.
In November 1865, the community inaugurated a new
synagogue on Lange Strasse (present-day Martha-Brantszsch-
Strasse). That same year, the cemetery on Strenggraben
(present-day Schlossstrasse), which had been consecrated
in 1680, was enlarged to include a purification house. The
community also maintained two foundations for the sick and
needy. Prominent local Jews included members of the Herz
Family, whose textile business employed many.
In 1933, the leader of the Jewish community was a Mr.
Boschwitz. Six children received religious instruction that
year.
On Pogrom Night, SA and SS men in civilian clothing
demolished Jewish properties and set fire to the synagogue.
All Jewish residents were imprisoned in the police station,
where they were held overnight; Fritz Hertz was sent to
Buchenwald. The Nazis also ravaged the Jewish cemetery.
The synagogue ruins were eventually cleared to make room
for a new structure.
The remaining Jews were forcibly moved into a “Jews’
house” after the pogrom. In November 1942, four Jewish
women were deported to Theresienstadt; and in April of
1942 and March of 1943, seven were deported to the East.
Hedwig Hammermann, who had been sent to Theresienstadt
on August 6, 1940, survived her ordeal. At least 15 former
residents of Jessnitz perished in the Shoah.
The Jewish cemetery, now a protected monument, was
restored after the war; the last burial took place there in 1982.
Author / Sources: Esther Sarah Evans
Sources: AJ, FJG, LJG, YV
www.mendelssohn-dessau.de/cmsfiles/Textproben/ulbrich_ zerstoerung_synagogen_1938.pdf
Sources: AJ, FJG, LJG, YV
www.mendelssohn-dessau.de/cmsfiles/Textproben/ulbrich_ zerstoerung_synagogen_1938.pdf
Located in: saxony-anhalt