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
Sources: EJL, LJG, FJG, YV
Located in: pomerania