Burgdorf-Salzufflen

First Jewish presence: 17th century; peak Jewish population: 114 in 1871; Jewish population in 1933: 37

The Jews of Burgdorf-Salzufflen were engaged in many trades, including textiles, leather, spices and ritual slaughter. In 1694, the community consecrated a cemetery on Am Finkenherd (present-day Uetzer Strasse). A 17th-century prayer room (it was later converted into a synagogue) on Braunschweiger/Knickstrasse was destroyed in a local fire in 1809, after which, in 1811, a new synagogue was erected on Poststrasse. Beginning in 1786, private tutoring took place in Jewish homes. The earliest record of a Jewish school is dated 1841; the teacher lived in the synagogue and also served as chazzan and shochet. It was in the 19th century, too, that a charitable organization and a Jewish women’s association became active in Burgdorf. As a result of the economic boycott, many Jews left Burgdorf after 1933. On Pogrom Night, the town’s last Jewish-owned store was vandalized. The synagogue’s interior was destroyed and the building was later (in 1939) appropriated by the municipality, after which the site served as headquarters for the local Hitler Youth and, between 1944 and 1959, as a public library. Burgdorf ’s Jewish cemetery was closed in 1939. Between 1941 and 1943, Burgdorf ’s last 11 Jews were deported to concentration camps. At least 18 died in the Shoah. The former synagogue was converted into a store in 1961. In 1978, a memorial plaque was unveiled at the site and, in 2008, the building became a historical monument and cultural center.

Heike Zaun Goshen

Copyright: Pogrom Night 1938 - A Memorial to the Destroyed Synagogues of Germany/ Germansynagogues.com

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