Boesingfeld

Summary: Jews settled in Boesingfeld in 1735, but it was not until 1824 that the community decided to establish a synagogue. Unable to gather much in the way of funds, the community purchased a small house and established a synagogue and school in its rooms; a cemetery was situated on one side of the building. Local Jews conducted services in this small synagogue until 1901, when it was destroyed by fire. In the spring of 1903, the community inaugurated a new synagogue on the same site. During the mid-1920s the Jews of Boesingfeld began to experience the consequences of vile anti-Semitic propaganda printed in the local newspapers. Later, on Pogrom Night, Nazi thugs destroyed the interior of the synagogue and set it on fire; Jewish-owned businesses were also vandalized. As the exterior of the synagogue had not been damaged, the building was converted into an apartment building which, in turn, was torn down in 1988 to make way for a new street. In 2003, local schoolchildren unveiled a small memorial plaque at the site.

Author / Sources: Moshe Finkel
Sources: EJL, LJG, SIA