Allenstein, Germany

Allenstein (Polish Olsztyn) East Prussia, Germany, today Poland. First evidence of a Jewish presence dates from 1819. With 56 members in 1820, the community grew steadily and there were 212 Jews in 1871; 471 in 1905; and 612 in 1925. In the beginning of the 19th century, a cemetery was established, followed by a synagogue (1877) and a school. In the early 20th century, the Association of East Prussian Communities established an old age home and office for the needy Jewish emigrants from Eastern Europe. Antisemitism increased in the Weimar years, from hate campaigns in the early 1920s to economic boycott in the late 1920s, which threatened the existence of several Jewish businesses. In 1932, SA stormtroopers threw hand-grenades into a Jewish-owned department store. In June 1933, about four months after the Nazi rise to power, the Jewish population was 448. In summer 1933, Nazi stortntroopers severely injured two Jewish merchants. On Kristallnacht (9-10 November 1938), the synagogue was burned down. By May 1939, only 135 Jews were still living in Allenstein. Those who failed to leave were moved to special houses from the beginning of 1940. In 1941, they were joined by the remaining Jews of the region. The main deportation, to the Minsk ghetto, took place on 24 June 1942. The inmates of the old age home were deported on August to the Theresienstadt ghetto. On 15 March 1943, the remaining Jews of Allenstein were sent there as well.