Mehlsack

General information: First Jewish presence: 1832; peak Jewish population: 129 in 1871; Jewish population in 1933: five families
Summary: Mehlsack, originally in East Prussia, is now part of Poland (renamed Pieniezno). The Jewish community of Mehlsack, established in the early 1800s, maintained a synagogue on Wormditter Strasse and a Jewish cemetery in an area known as the Judenberg, or “Jews’ hill” (next to the location of the future train station). Local Jews started to emigrate from Germany after the Nazis’ election victories, so that in 1933 only five Jewish families lived there. By 1939, all Jews had left the city, and Mehlsack was declared Judenfrei (free of Jews). The synagogue, however, was nevertheless burned down, together with all its contents, on Pogrom Night.
Author / Sources: Moshe Finkel
Sources: FJG, LJG
Located in: east-prussia