Kall

Summary: With no records indicating otherwise, it is safe to assume that this Jewish community was founded in the mid-19th century. Local Jews opened a prayer hall—it was located in a private residence—soon after establishing a community; the prayer hall was damaged by fire on an unspecified date, after which the Jews of Kall purchased a site and built, in 1869/70, a new synagogue complete with bay windows, a women’s gallery and a schoolroom. A community official served as teacher and shochet, and for a time the community was able to offer classes in religion. The synagogue was broken into on Pogrom Night; eyewitnesses related how local young thugs desecrated prayer books and ritual objects before the building was set on fire. The town’s remaining Jews were arrested that night. Although the municipality appropriated the synagogue building in 1941 and carted the ruins away in 1946, the site was returned to the Jewish community in 1950.

Author / Sources: Harold Slutzkin
Sources: SG-NRW, SIA