Duderstadt
General information: First Jewish presence: see below; peak Jewish population: 85 in 1900; Jewish population in 1933: 27
Summary: Although we do not know when
Jews first settled in Duderstadt,
records do tell us that the town
was home to a synagogue in
1338 (and, possibly, a cemetery).
Records from 1457 mention a
school whose teacher also served
as the chazzan and mohel. The
modern community emerged in
the 19th century, with most of its
members engaged in trade and
finance.
Records suggest that services
were conducted in prayer
rooms until 1843. In 1898,
the community inaugurated a
synagogue—the building also
accommodated a schoolroom and
an apartment for a teacher who
served as chazzan and shochet—
on Christian Blank Strasse.
Duderstadt’s new Jewish school
was established in 1870.
In 1920, a local branch of the
Central Association of German
Citizens of Jewish Faith opened
in Duderstadt.
On Pogrom Night, Jewishowned
properties were plundered;
SS men set the defunct synagogue
on fire, and four Jewish men
were imprisoned temporarily.
The remaining six Jews were
eventually moved into one house; in 1942, the year during which the cemetery was leveled, they were deported. Later, in 1944 and
1945, 750 Jewish women from Hungary performed forced
labor in Duderstadt.
Three memorial stones were unveiled at the cemetery
in 1953. A memorial plaque was erected at the former
synagogue site in 1980.
Between 18 and 26 Duderstadt Jews perished in the Shoah.
Photo: A group of schoolchildren and a teacher in front of the synagogue of Duderstadt, in or around the year 1910. Courtesy of: City Archive of Duderstadt.
Author / Sources: Heike Zaun Goshen
Sources: AH, HU, JGNB1, SIA
Sources: AH, HU, JGNB1, SIA
Located in: lower-saxony