Insterburg, Germany

INSTERBURG (Russian Chernyakhovsk), East Prussia, Germany, today Russia. The first Jew settled in Insterburg in 1834. In 1843, the Jewish population was 41; in 1880, 363; and in 1925, 338. The community established a synagogue in 1865 and subsequently two cemeteries. Insterburg was a center for regional Jewish activities and the Association of East Prussian Communities had its central office here. In 1908, the East Prussian Association for Jewish Literature was founded in the town. After the Nazis assumed power in 1933, a center for assisting the Jewish communities of the Gumbinnen district socially and financially was established in Insterburg. Massive emigration began already in 1933-34, and by June 1938 only 135 Jews remained. On Kristallnacht (9-10 November 1938), the synagogue was burned down. In May 1939, only 90 Jews were registered in the Insterburg urban district. It may be supposed that those who did not manage to emigrate were deported, with the possible exception of 21 Jews who were still living in Insterburg in October 1942.