Cloppenburg
General information: First Jewish presence: early 18th century; peak Jewish population: see below; Jewish population in 1933: 30-46
Summary:
Always small, the Jewish community of Cloppenburg
numbered approximately 30 members between 1822 and
1922. Many Cloppenburg Jews were cattle and horse traders,
butchers, merchants and tailors.
Cloppenburg’s Jewish cemetery, consecrated in the 18th
century, was located on the outskirts of town, on the route to
Stedingsmuehlen. The first available record of a prayer room
is from the 1830s, and we also know that this room was later
replaced by rented premises that included a synagogue, a school
and an apartment for a teacher who frequently served as chazzan
and shochet. The community inaugurated a new synagogue on
Krankenhausstrasse/Ritterstrasse in 1866, after which, in 1871,
a new cemetery was consecrated next to the synagogue site.
Many Jews joined local associations during the 19th century.
On Pogrom Night, rioters burned down the synagogue
building and confiscated its ritual objects. Jewish-owned
businesses were looted and vandalized, and local Jewish
men were sent to and imprisoned in the Sachsenhausen
concentration camp for several weeks. Nineteen Cloppenburg
Jews managed to emigrate from Germany during the
following years.
The cemetery was restored in 1954. Together with the
adjacent synagogue site, it was converted into a memorial
in 1983. A plaque commemorates the former Jewish
community.
At least 20 Cloppenburg Jews perished in the Shoah, most
of them in Sobibor.
Author / Sources: Heike Zaun Goshen
Sources: AH, JG NB1, SIA
www.geschichtsatlas.de/~gb21/Projekt/Juden/juden-end.htm
Sources: AH, JG NB1, SIA
www.geschichtsatlas.de/~gb21/Projekt/Juden/juden-end.htm
Located in: lower-saxony