Cottbus, Germany

Evidence of a Jewish presence in Cottbus dates back to 1448. This early community was subjected to the two general expulsions of all Jews from the Brandenburg province in 1510 and in 1573. A permanent settlement was started in 1740. A prayer room was set up in 1811 and a burial ground purchased in 1814. In the 1850s, when the Jewish population numbered about 45 individuals, an official synagogue community was set up which adopted Liberal Judaism. The Jewish population was 354 in 1880 and 396 in 1910. A larger synagogue was dedicated in 1902 and a new cemetery opened in 1918. When the Nazis came to power in 1933, there were 450 Jews in Cottbus. In 1938-39, a pioneer training farm was run at nearby Echow. The expulsion of the Polish Jews from Germany at the end of October 1938 affected 31 Jews in Cottbus. On Kristallnacht (9-10 November 1938), the synagogue was burned down, Jewish shops and apartments were demolished, and the old cemetery was desecrated. Thirty people were arrested and deported to the Sachsenhausen concentration camp. Two died shortly after their release in December 1938. By May 1939, 142 Jews and 79 persons of partial Jewish origin (“Mischlinge”) were still living in Cottbus. The Jews were assigned to "Jewish houses" and compelled to do forced labor. At the end of 1940 or in 1941, deportations began to various locations in Eastern Europe, including the Warsaw ghetto (April 1942) and the Theresienstadt ghetto (August 1942). By October 1942, there were only 29 Jews in Cottbus, most married to non-Jews. The men were taken to forced labor camps in 1943-44. At the end of the war, there were only 13 Jews still in Cottbus.