Niederaula

Summary: Records indicate that the community’s first synagogue (it was referred to as the Judenschul, or “Jews’ school” and established in 1806) was probably a prayer room in a private residence. On November 11-12, 1836, the community inaugurated a synagogue at 13 Bahnhofstrasse; the building accommodated 60 worshipers, a schoolroom and an apartment for a teacher. Niederaula was home to a school for religious studies and, from 1868 to 1933, an elementary school; Jakob Gans of Rotenburg taught there during the years 1886 to 1931. Local Jews also maintained a mikveh and a cemetery, the latter of which was established in the 19th century and now contains 60 gravestones. By June 1933, only 76 Jews lived in Niederaula. A welfare society, a sisterhood, an Agudah youth group and a society “for the beautification of the synagogue” were active in the community. On Pogrom Night, rioters ravaged the synagogue and Jewish properties. At the synagogue, Nazis threw out the Torah scroll, shattered the chandeliers and broke windows. One eyewitness reported that Nazi thugs hit his 86-year-old grandfather and raped his sister. A seven-year-old child, who in fright jumped from a window, was severely injured. Three Jewish men were sent to Buchenwald; they returned, pale and sick, several weeks later. Thirty-four local Jews had emigrated by 1941. Deportations from Niederaula began on February 5, 1941, when at least 15 Jews were sent to Frankfurt; on April 1, 1942, seven Jews were deported to the East; and in June 1942, the last transport left with Niederaula’s last two Jews, Karoline and Salomon Levi. At least 76 Niederaula Jews and seven from Hattenbach (an affiliated community) perished in the Shoah. The synagogue building housed POWs during the war, after which it was converted into a simple residence; a Catholic congregation prayed there in the years 1952 to 1956. The building was torn down in 1972, and on September 5, 2007, a memorial stone was unveiled in Niederaula.

Author / Sources: Esther Sarah Evans
Sources: AJ, EJL