Hammerstein

General information: First Jewish presence: unknown; peak Jewish population: 195 in 1890; Jewish population in 1933: 55
Summary: Records reveal very little information about the Jewish community of Hammerstein (present-day Czarne, Poland). We do know, however, that a community existed there during the 19th century, and that it maintained a cemetery and several other facilities. The 19th-century Jewish community fluctuated in number between 140 and 200 Jews. Although information about the synagogue’s construction and date of consecration is not available, records do tell us that the house of worship was located on Bergstrasse. Fueled by the arson of the Neustettiner synagogue, anti- Semitic riots spread throughout Pomerania; in Hammerstein, Jews were assaulted and their properties attacked. Later, when the Nazis rose to power, only 55 Jews lived in this small town. On Pogrom Night (November 10, 1938), the synagogue and Jewish-owned businesses were destroyed. In 1940, the remaining Jews were arrested and interned in Buergergarten, near Schneidemuehl, soon after which they were deported to the East. Fifty-five Hammerstein Jews perished in the Shoah.
Author / Sources: Ruth Martina Trucks
Sources: EJL, LJG, FJG, YV
Located in: pomerania