• Memorial plaque to the New Synagogue
In the Masurian town of Kętrzyn (German: Rastenburg) a memorial remembers since November 2012 the former New Synagigue which was destroyed during the »Kristallnacht« in November 1938.
Image: Rastenburg, undated, View of the New Synagogue, Yad Vashem
Rastenburg, undated, View of the New Synagogue, Yad Vashem

Image: Kętrzyn, 2013, Memorial plaque on the sidewalk at the site of the former synagogue, Stiftung Denkmal
Kętrzyn, 2013, Memorial plaque on the sidewalk at the site of the former synagogue, Stiftung Denkmal
Before the Second World War Rastenburg was a small town typical for the province of East Prussia, its landmark the castle from 1329, built by the Teutonic Knights. Since the 17th century Rastenburg was a garrison town, the population in 1900 was about 7,000 inhabitants. In 1914, at the early stage of the First World War, the town was occupied for two weeks by Russian troops. Nevertheless, the New Synagogue could be completed in 1916. Jews had lived in Rastenburg since the beginning of the 19th century. The building of the New Synagogue with its three domes bore witness to the growing self-confidence of the Jewish community. After the First World War, the province of East Prussia was cut off from the rest of the German Reich, and because of the demilitarisation required by the Treaty of Versailles the garrison town of Rastenburg became less important. In May 1919 anti-semitic excesses broke out and Jewish shops were attacked and looted. Subsequently many Jews left Rastenburg. On the eve of WW II the town's population was about 20,000 inhabitants. In the night of November 9/10, 1938 local National Socialists set fire to the New Synagogue and destroyed it.
Image: Rastenburg, undated, View of the New Synagogue, Yad Vashem
Rastenburg, undated, View of the New Synagogue, Yad Vashem

Image: Kętrzyn, 2013, Memorial plaque on the sidewalk at the site of the former synagogue, Stiftung Denkmal
Kętrzyn, 2013, Memorial plaque on the sidewalk at the site of the former synagogue, Stiftung Denkmal
After the »Kristallnacht« most of the Jewish inhabitants left Rastenburg. There are even hints that by the end of 1939 there were no more Jews living in the town.
Image: Rastenburg, undated, Interior of the New Synagogue, Yad Vashem
Rastenburg, undated, Interior of the New Synagogue, Yad Vashem

Image: Kętrzyn, 2013, Site of the former synagogue, Stiftung Denkmal
Kętrzyn, 2013, Site of the former synagogue, Stiftung Denkmal
After the Second World War the province East Prussia was divided between Poland and the Soviet Union. The heavily destroyed Rastenburg was renamed Kętrzyn after a Polish historian. The town's German past was repressed for decades, the Jewish history fell into oblivion – particularly since there are no Jews living in the Kętrzyn of today. At the former site of the New Synagogue a multi-storey residential house with ground-floor shops was built, structural traces of the synagogue no longer exist. In November 2012 a memorial plaque in Polish and German was set into the pavement in front of the building. Former and present inhabitants, the local protestant congregation as well as the local Arno-Holz-Society for Polish-German Understanding had campaigned for the memorial plaque.
The small building of the Old Synagogue still exists, since 1985 baptists pray there.
Image: Kętrzyn, 2013, Memorial plaque, Stiftung Denkmal
Kętrzyn, 2013, Memorial plaque, Stiftung Denkmal

Image: Kętrzyn, 2013, The building of the Old Synagogue which is still standing, Stiftung Denkmal
Kętrzyn, 2013, The building of the Old Synagogue which is still standing, Stiftung Denkmal
Name
Tablica upamiętniająca Nową Synagogę
Address
ul. Daszyńskiego 8
11-400 Kętrzyn
Open
The memorial plaque is accessible at all times