The support group "Synagoge in Vöhl e.V.“ keeps alive the history of the Jews in Waldeck-Frankenberg with events and genealogical research. The preserved sacral room of the Synagogue lets you feel the atmosphere of the Jewish prayer room.
Performance of the song on 12 July 2024 in the synagogue. Noah, Daniel, Stephen Baird, video still: Carol Baird
The audio is a recording with a different instrumental line-up. Here is the Songtext.
Stephan Baird has written an accompanying text for this song.
Ulrich Müller and Walter Schauderna have created a photo album of the visit.
Once again, the people of Israel are hit by rockets and terror on a Jewish holiday. Once again they have to fear that the only halfway safe place to live in the world is being pulled out from under their feet. Jews have been persecuted and killed for millennia in every conceivable corner of the globe. Our hearts bleed when we realize that they find no peace even in Israel. From the cowardly attack of Hamas on Israeli civilians, from the kidnappings and exposures of the victims, an unmasked anti-Semitism looks at us – a fanaticism to want to destroy the state of Israel and all Jews.
We condemn this attack in the strongest possible terms and show our solidarity with the people of Israel and the Jews all over the world – but also with all Palestinians who suffer under Hamas' reign of terror. At the same time, we condemn the Iranian regime's gloating reaction to the attacks. Our solidarity is also with the courageous Iranians who are fighting their own oppressive regime and do not see Israel as an enemy. We expressly welcome the Nobel Peace Prize awarded to the imprisoned Iranian freedom fighter Narges Mohammadi.
Our thoughts and prayers are with all - in Israel, in Palestine, in Iran and elsewhere – who must fear and fight for their freedom and their lives these days. We will continue to do everything in our power to uphold the memory of the Shoah in Germany and especially in our region, to stand by the weak and the attacked in our country as well – and to resolutely fight anti-Semitism as well as anti-Muslim racism and every other form of racism and violence.
Signatories of the call: Judaica Meimbressen e.V., Verein der Freundinnen und Freunde jüdischen Lebens im Werra-Meißner-Kreis, Arbeitskreis Rückblende – Gegen das Vergessen e.V., Förderkreises Synagoge in Vöhl e.V. and many privat persons.
The sacred room of the synagogue lost its interior furnishings in 1938. It was destroyed.
With augmented reality, the former impression of the room can be recreated.
© Kurt-Willi JuliusNot quite 700 Jews were deported from the Waldeck-Frankenberg district during the Nazi era. These 700 people did not live together in a single place, but were spread across many communities in the district:
But not only Jews fell victim to the madness of racism; Sinti and Roma, disabled people, Jehovah's Witnesses, homosexuals and political dissidents were marginalised, persecuted, deported and exterminated.
The district of Waldeck-Frankenberg has erected a memorial to these victims in the garden of the synagogue for all those deported during the Nazi era. It was created by the artist E. R. Nele.
List of deported persons in the district of Waldeck-Frankenberg
| Villages | Number of persons |
| Allendorf (Eder) |
18
|
| Bad Arolsen |
74
|
| Bad Wildungen |
76
|
| Battenberg |
18
|
| Bromskirchen |
4
|
| Diemelsee |
20
|
| Diemelstadt |
48
|
| Edertal |
23
|
| Frankenau |
44
|
| Frankenberg |
47
|
| Gemünden |
62
|
| Haina (Kloster) |
21
|
| Hatzfeld |
4
|
| Korbach |
62
|
| Rosenthal |
23
|
| Vöhl |
57
|
| Volkmarsen |
23
|
| Waldeck |
48
|
| Willingen |
23
|
This register about Jews from the Waldeck-Frankenberg district is „in progress“. That means that it is not and will never be complete. For several years I´ve been researching in various archives (e.g. Centrum Judiacum Berlin; The Central Archives for the History of the Jewish People in Jerusalem, The Hessian State Archives (Staatsarchiv Marburg), Archives from different communities in this district, and newspaperarchieves) as well as in regional historical literature. Only a small fraction of these sources could be evaluated and incorperated so far. At the moment, there are about 5800 CV of Jews in Waldeck. Family trees were created when enough data about the family was available. This was possible with about 160 Jewish families.
This compilation is made for the internet - not as a book. A book is a finished product, on the internet there is always the opportunity to easily change and add things.
In in individual cases there is justified interest to delete and or remove information about certain persons the author is more than willing to do so.
In the heading of each biography the places in Waldeck- Frankenberg with which the people are connected to are named. If those places are in bold print they lived there for some time. If those places are in normal print they were either related (spouse; children; etc.) to Jews or only lived there for a short period of time.
If you see any mistakes, corrections or have additional information you would like us to include send a mail to
by Karl-Heinz Stadtler
Grafik von mcmurryjulie auf Pixabay
