Melsungen

Summary: The Jewish community of Melsungen was founded in the second half of the 18th century. The synagogue on Muehlenstrasse (possibly Fritzlarer Strasse), used until 1836, accommodated a prayer room, a teacher’s apartment and a school. Between 1836 and 1841, during the period of construction of the new synagogue, a temporary prayer room and a schoolroom were established in the homes of Benjamin Abt and Solomon Abt’s widow, respectively. The new synagogue at 13 Rotenburger Strasse—the foundation stone is dated 1841—accommodated a schoolroom, a teacher’s apartment, a mikveh, 89 seats for men and, on the balcony, 58 seats for women. Melsungen was home to a Jewish elementary school from 1854 until 1924. Burials were conducted in Binsfoert until 1860, when the community consecrated its own cemetery. In 1931/32, seven Jewish children received religious instruction in Melsungen. Active in the community were a Jewish sisterhood, a brotherhood, a synagogue choir and a sewing club. Twenty-three local Jews emigrated after 1933: nine went to the United States, three to South Africa, three to England, three to Belgium, two to the Netherlands and three to Palestine. On Pogrom Night, the synagogue and other Jewishowned properties were demolished. Jews were assaulted— one injured woman lay on the street for half the night until she was rescued by a local innkeeper—and several men were sent to Buchenwald, where one of them died on November 20, 1938. By 1939, the Jewish population had dropped to 26. In September 1939, the community was forced to sell the synagogue to the Nazis for a paltry sum; the Nazis refused to pay, at which point the synagogue was sold to a craftsmen’s guild. Twenty-five local Jews emigrated, 17 relocated to other towns and cities in Germany and 10 were deported. At least 46 Melsungen Jews perished in the Shoah. In 1945, the municipality was forced to pay compensation for damages inflicted during the Shoah. The synagogue, now a commercial building, bears a memorial plaque. In 2008 and again in 2009, memorial stumbling stones were unveiled in Melsungen.

Author / Sources: Esther Sarah Evans
Sources: AJ, EJL
www.stolpersteine-melsungen.de/index.php?id=412