Soegel

Summary: In 1913, when the Jewish community recorded its peak population figure, most Soegel Jews were peddlers, cattle and horse traders, butchers and merchants. An early 19th-century prayer room was located in the former kennels of a local castle. In 1837, local Jews purchased a residential building (on present-day Pohlkamp) in which, during the 1840s, they established a synagogue and a mikveh. The Jewish cemetery near Loruper Weg was consecrated in the early 19th century too. From the 18th century onwards, the Jews of Soegel employed teachers of religion. Records suggest that a proper Jewish school was established in the town in 1882, and that it was presided over by a teacher who served as shochet and chazzan. The community also maintained a youth movement, a women’s organization and a branch of the Central Association of German Citizens of Jewish Faith. On Pogrom Night, members of the SA burned down the synagogue; several ritual objects were saved by a non- Jewish family. Jewish men were arrested, and some were sent to Dachau and to Sachsenhausen; they were later released. The Jewish school was closed down in 1940. In December 1941, 38 local Jews were deported to Riga; in 1942, 25 were deported to Theresienstadt. At least 60 Soegel Jews died in the Shoah. The Jewish cemetery—it was desecrated in 1947—has been cared for by the municipality since 1999.

Author / Sources: Heike Zaun Goshen
Sources: AH, JGNB1
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