Schoetmar
General information: First Jewish presence: 17th century; peak Jewish population: 85 in 1900; Jewish population in 1933: 53
Summary: The first Jews of Schoetmar were expelled from the town
in 1614. In or around the year 1725, around which time a
synagogue was built in Schoetmar, the Jewish community
came into being. The community later merged with that in
the nearby town of Uflen to become the joint rabbinate of
Uflen-Schoetmar (later, Bad-Salzuflen-Schoetmar).
Local Jews conducted services in prayer rooms until 1725,
when a synagogue was built at 23 Bergsstrasse. In 1800,
another synagogue was built in the Schoetmar manor (called
Rittergut), but it was sold and demolished in 1888, when
construction work on a new synagogue (on Echternstrasse)
began. Inaugurated on August 1 of that same year, the new
house of worship’s distinctive features were its arch and
Moorish elements. The Jewish cemetery was consecrated
either in 1871 or in 1877.
In 1933, the community numbered 53 members; according
to records, a Jewish school was still active that year. Later, on
Pogrom Night (November 1938), local SA men ransacked and
set fire to the synagogue. The interior burned down completely,
but the roof and walls withstood the flames. Jewish homes and
businesses were also destroyed on Pogrom Night, and nine
Jews were arrested and taken to Buchenwald. The synagogue
building was sold to a contractor in 1939.
Of the 38 Jews still living in Schoetmar in May 1939, 20
were deported between December 1941 and July 1942. The
remaining 18 Jews managed to escape.
The synagogue building was sold in the 1960s, after
which, in 1974, it was converted into an apartment building.
As of this writing, a memorial plaque has never been unveiled
there.
Author / Sources: Benjamin Rosendahl
Sources: EJL, SG-NRW
www.heimatverein-bad-salzuflen.de
Sources: EJL, SG-NRW
www.heimatverein-bad-salzuflen.de
Located in: north-rhine-westphalia