Bremke
General information: First Jewish presence: 1727; peak Jewish population: 159 in 1852 (16.7% of the total population); Jewish population in 1933: 26
Summary:
The Jews of Gelliehausen and Woellmarshausen were
affiliated with the Jewish community of Bremke in 1853
and 1877, respectively.
In 1828, a Gentile resident of Bremke built a synagogue
on his property (42 Heiligenstaedterstrasse); the Jewish
community financed the construction and afterwards paid
monthly rent. A mikveh was built in another rented building
in 1845, by which point Bremke was home to a Jewish
elementary school whose teacher performed the duties of
chazzan and shochet. After the school closed in 1914, children
studied religion with a teacher from Heiligenstatd and later
with one from Goettingen. We also know that the Jews of
Bremke established two cemeteries—one in the 18th century (enlarged in 1800), the other in 1844. (There was also a
cemetery in Woellmarshausen.)
Eleven schoolchildren received religious instruction in
1933. Nazis repeatedly attacked the synagogue, in response
to which, in 1934, services were moved to a private residence.
Jewish-owned businesses were plundered in 1937.
On Pogrom Night, Jewish-owned stores were looted and
destroyed; the synagogue and its ritual objects were burned.
Later, in the fall of 1939, Bremke’s last six Jews left the area,
as did the remaining four Jews in Gelliehausen. At least 22
Bremke Jews and seven from Gelliehausen perished in the
Shoah.
The old cemetery was sold in 1941, the new one in 1944.
Author / Sources: Nurit Borut
Sources: GELKB, JBKG, PK-NW
Sources: GELKB, JBKG, PK-NW
Located in: lower-saxony