Luebben

Summary: Louis II, Margrave of Brandenburg, expelled Jews from the town in the 14th century. Records from 1525 mention a Judengasse (“Jews’ alley”), and also tell us that the local Jews, having been accused of arson, were once again expelled from the town fifteen years later. Thereafter sporadic Jewish settlement continued, but Jews were finally banned from the town in 1573 and did not return to Luebben for another three centuries. A Jewish community, composed largely of textile merchants, was founded in 1853 or in 1857. Services were conducted in private rooms until a synagogue, located on Isaacksche Gasse (later named Schulgasse), was inaugurated in Luebben. A new synagogue was inaugurated on presentday Kirchstrasse in or around 1900. We also know that the communal mikveh and cemetery were established in 1835. The Judengasse was renamed Zur Bleiche soon after the 1933 elections. Five years later, on Pogrom Night, the synagogue was set on fire and the cemetery destroyed. At the end of 1942, many Jews imprisoned in Luckau were deported to Auschwitz, among them Jews from Luebben. At least 28 Luebben Jews perished in the Shoah. In 1988, a memorial stone was unveiled at the site of the former synagogue, whose outline was marked on the pavement. Two years later, in 1990, the name Judengasse was reinstated.

Author / Sources: Beate Grosz-Wenker
Sources: AJ, EJL, LJG, SIA, YV