Drensteinfurt
General information: First Jewish presence: 1579; peak Jewish population: 54 in 1885; Jewish population in 1933: 36
Summary:
As was the case in many of Germany's smaller Jewish
communities, the Jews of Drensteinfurt initially conducted
services in a prayer room. Inaugurated in 1872 (the land
had been purchased in 1870), the community's synagogue
remained in use until Pogrom Night; at the last Sabbath
service held there, the town's remaining Jews celebrated a
Bar Mitzvah.
On Pogrom Night, rioters burned the synagogue's
contents. Due to its proximity to other structures, the
synagogue building was not set on fire. An unidentified
person managed to rescue one of the Torah scrolls, after
which it was given to a local Catholic priest who eventually
shipped the scroll to a synagogue in Buenos Aires.
Although the synagogue was converted into a cultural
center in November 1990, it still retains the architectural
characteristics of a synagogue. In honor of Drensteinfurt's
former Jewish community and synagogue, the synagogue's
street, Kirchgasse, was renamed Synagogengasse; according
to records, the street had once been called Judengasse.
Author / Sources: Moshe Finkel
Sources: EJL, SG-NRW, SIA
Sources: EJL, SG-NRW, SIA
Located in: north-rhine-westphalia