The former synagogue in Dornum is the only one in East Frisia that has been preserved largely in its original condition. The Jewish community of Dornum used it from 1841 to November 7, 1938. The last Jewish residents left Dornum in 1940. Today the building serves as a memorial and Jewish museum. It is supported by the Dornum Synagogue Support Association.
After the number of Jews rose sharply as a result of the Christmas flood in 1717, the factor Samuel Aarons set up a prayer room in a building on Hohe Straße (now Kirchstraße), which was first mentioned around 1730. The house with the prayer room probably stood on the property on which the synagogue was later built. It may also have had a mikveh. This is indicated by a shaft in the northern part of the women's area, which was discovered during construction work in 1991. It could be the remains of a Jewish ritual bath. This shaft was about 2.50 m × 3.50 m and had a depth of 2.40 m. The side walls were painted blue on the inside. However, the steps were no longer complete. The shaft was filled in again after construction work.[
The synagogue in Dornum, which still exists today, was built by the local community in 1841. The Jews of Dornum borrowed the money for this from a Christian moneylender, using the houses and valuables of the Jewish families as collateral.[1] Over the next almost 100 years, the community modernized the building several times. In 1912, the community decided to sell the synagogue and planned a new building. This could not be implemented due to the outbreak of the First World War.[3] Instead, the old synagogue was modernized again and received electric light in 1920. However, heating was never installed. This posed a problem in the winter months, as the floor was only made of rammed clay. In the years that followed, many Jews left the town for economic reasons. After 1922, due to the transfer of the prayer leader, services were only held on major holidays.
The rise to power of the National Socialists reinforced this trend. By the end of 1933, a third of Dornum's Jews had already left. In August 1933, Hohe Strasse, on which the synagogue and many Jewish homes were located, was renamed Adolf Hitler Strasse. After 1933, the Dornum synagogue was hardly used anymore, as the required number of ten male worshipers for a minyan was no longer reached. Wilhelm Rose, the last community leader, finally sold the synagogue on November 7, 1938 for 600 Reichsmarks to the local master carpenter August Teßmer, whose house was directly adjacent to the synagogue building. From then on, Teßmer used the building as a furniture warehouse. Rose transferred the proceeds from the sale, which were intended for the Jewish aid association, to the Emden regional rabbinate. During the November pogroms of 1938, local SA members broke into the building and stole furnishings, which they then burned on the market square.
In 1990[4] the "Dornum Synagogue" support association was founded, whose goals are the preservation and restoration of the synagogue in Dornum, the maintenance and care of the Jewish cemetery, and the creation of a permanent exhibition on the Jewish history of Dornum. In 1991, the synagogue was restored with funds from the monument preservation department and the Dornum community. The old west façade was also restored and the sandstone element was reinstated.[3] Since then, the former synagogue has served as a memorial and information center.
Source: Wikipedia
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