Hohenlimburg

General information: First Jewish presence: 1350; peak Jewish population: 149 in 1885; Jewish population in 1933: 81
Summary: The Jews of Hohenlimburg established a synagogue, a cemetery and a school in, respectively, 1870, 1885 and 1906. The community was able to employ a shochet, and we also know that local Jews, many of whom were engaged in trade and crafts, were socially and politically active. Thirty-four Jews had left the town by November 1938, by which point prayer services were no longer held in the synagogue. That same month, on Pogrom Night, rioters set the defunct synagogue on fire and destroyed Jewish homes and businesses. Jewish men were sent to concentration camps, and others were taken for forced labor. By 1942, another 21 Jews had left Hohenlimburg. Of the 34 local Jews who moved to other German towns, seven perished in concentration camps. Nine were deported to the East from Hohenlimburg in April of 1942, as were four others on unspecified dates. All perished. The former synagogue building, now a community center, bears a memorial plaque. The building has been restored and is protected as a historical monument.
Author / Sources: Dorothea Shefer-Vanson
Sources: AH, EJL, SIA