Annaberg, Germany

ANNABERG Saxony, Germany. Jews did not settle in Annaberg until 1867. In 1890 the community gave complete equality to Jewish immigrants from Eastern Europe. In 1897 a synagogue was established and a religious education teacher engaged. A cemetery was set up in 1905. At this time, the Jewish population was 137, dropping to 55 in 1925. Jews served in the town council from the turn of the century and played an important role in the town’s economic development. In 1930, Jews owned one of the biggest department stores in the area as well as 15 textile factories. When the Nazis came to power in 1933, the community numbered 58 members; 39 were residents of the town itself. In the boycott of Jewish businesses on 1 April 1933, SA and SS troops laid siege to Jewish stores. Customers who did not observe the boycott had a stamp places on their faces reading “We are traitors who buy from Jews”. On Kristallnacht (9-10 November 1938) the synagogue was destroyed and the cemetery desecrated. By 1939 there were only eight Jews, two married to non-Jewish partners, and six of partial Jewish origin (Mischlinge) in Annaberg. One was taken to a concentration camp, but survived. No further information about the fate of the others is available.