Drove
General information: First Jewish presence: mid-1600s; peak Jewish population: 66 in 1919; Jewish population in 1933: 36
Summary: In 1865, the Jewish community of Drove built a new
synagogue. Erected on the same site on which an older
house of worship had once stood, the new building also
served the neighboring Jews of Untermaubach, whose
synagogue had been closed down as a result of structural
damage. On Pogrom Night, members of the SS murdered
Drove’s remaining Jews. Although the town’s non-Jewish
population was sympathetic to the plight of their Jewish
neighbors, they were unable to stop the outrages committed
that night, when SS men ordered the fire department to
pour gasoline around the synagogue building and set it on
fire. It is rumored that the local Catholic church offered
the Jews refuge; the SS commandment, hearing of this,
warned that his men would burn down the church if any
Jews were found there.
Memorial stones were unveiled at the synagogue site in
1971 and in 1987.
Photo: The synagogue of Drove in 1928 (postcard). Courtesy of: City Archive of Kreuzau.
Author / Sources: Moshe Finkel
Sources: SIA, EJL, SG-NRW
Sources: SIA, EJL, SG-NRW
Located in: north-rhine-westphalia