Altenburg, Germany

Jews first settled in Altenburg in 1364, but were expelled in the 15th century. It is unclear when they were allowed to settle again, but in the 19th century, there is evidence of a thriving Jewish community, which was well integrated into the non-Jewish environment. Jews were active as bankers and industrialists and were members of local sports clubs. In religious matters, the Altenburg Jews were dependent on Leipzig, where they prayed and buried their dead. Between 1890 and 1910 and again in 1918-20, there were influxes of Jews from Galicia, the overall Jewish population reaching its peak in 1925 with 170 Jews. The newcomers founded an independent community in 1927 with its own prayer hall and religious instruction. According to the Nazi census of June 1933, there were 134 Jews living in Altenburg (less than 0.3% of the total). Some 41% emigrated in time, making it to safe havens in the U.S., Palestine, Great Britain, and other countries. Others, who had left for other destinations in Germany or in Europe, were, in many instances, subsequently rounded up and deported as the Nazis spread out over the continent. On 28.October 1938, 44 Jews of Polish origin were arrested and deported overnight to no man's land near the Polish border. On Kristallnacht (9-10 November 1938), Jewish shops and the synagogue were vandalized. Two Jews were injured; others were arrested and later deported. Fifty-eight were deported to death camps in the east in 1942. At least 43% of the Jews living in Altenburg in 1933 did not survive the Holocaust There were 79 Jews from various concentration camps who were forced to work in a local metal plant and a nearby SS labor camp where they perished. They were buried in the municipal cemetery in Altenburg.