Wesermuende
General information: First Jewish presence: early 19th century; peak Jewish population: 340 in 1931; Jewish population in 1933: unknown (113 in 1939)
Summary: The town of Wesermuende was founded in 1924, when the
medieval borough of Lehe merged with the newer settlement
of Geestemuende. Wesermuende’s Jewish community was
attached to that of Bremerhaven, the port for the ancient
city of Bremen.
Jews settled in Lehe in the early 19th century: a cemetery was
consecrated in 1804, and the synagogue in Geestemuende,
with its seating capacity of 300, classrooms and communal
offices, was built in 1878. When the boroughs merged in
the early 1920s (see above), the Jews of Bremerhaven became
members of the new community.
Many Jews flourished at the beginning of the 20th century,
and some even achieved national fame in business and the
professions. Prominent among these Jews was the Schocken
family, founders of the renowned publishing house and the
chain stores that bear their name.
Displeased with the results of the anti-Jewish boycott of
1933, local anti-Semites escalated their onslaught on Jewish
businesses in 1935, so that by the end of that year one-third
of the Jewish community had left Wesermuende.
The synagogue was set on fire on Pogrom Night;
Jewish homes were wrecked and businesses, including the
landmark Schocken store, were vandalized. Many Jewish
men were arrested, abused and taken to the Sachsenhausen
concentration camp.
The synagogue’s ruins were demolished in 1939 at the
expense of the Jewish community. By 1939, only 113
Jews, crammed into designated “Jews’ houses,” still lived
in Wesermuende; in 1942, those who had not managed to
escape (approximately 80) were deported and murdered.
A memorial plaque was unveiled at the former synagogue
site in 1983. Jewish immigrants from the former Soviet
Union later founded a new community.
Author / Sources: Harold Slutzkin
Sources: EJL, LJG
Sources: EJL, LJG
Located in: lower-saxony