Jews did not come to Malbork until ca. 1810; it is possible that they first arrived there in 1815, when several Jewish families settled in the area and soon established a religious community. In 1819, a Jewish cemetery was founded in Malbork. The town’s first synagogue was erected in 1830.

The third quarter of the 19th century marked the glory days of the Malbork community. Such state of affairs is clearly visible in statistical data – in 1816, only 50 Jews lived in the town and in 1846 – 151. In 1867, the community had 317 members constituting ca. 4% of Malbork’s entire population. In 1864, Jews had one representative in the Municipal Council; in 1886, he became the Council’s chairman. In 1871, the number of Jewish inhabitants of Malbork rose to 337, but in 1880, it fell to 306.

In the years 1897–1898, a new synagogue was erected at the former Schulgasse (currently Szkolna Street). It was officially consecrated on 30 August 1898; the ceremony was attended by rabbi Blumenthal from Gdańsk and rabbi Silberstein from Elbląg. The synagogue was burned down during the Kristallnacht in November 1938. In 1912, Heinz Galinski was born in Malbork; he went on to become the president of the Central Council of Jews in Germany.

In the subsequent years, the community lost more and more members, with only 180 left in 1895, 170 in 1932, 60 in August 1938, and 33 in May 1939. At the beginning of the 20th century, an office of the Association of East-Prussian Communities was opened in Malbork; its aim was to provide support for Jewish migrants from Eastern Europe. When national socialists came to power in Germany, the wave of migration of Jews from Malbork intensified. In 1938, during the Kristallnacht, the local synagogue was set on fire. In 1940, there were no Jews living in Malbork; no information can be found on the fate of those who had left the town.

Bibliography:

  • Malbork, [in] The Encyclopedia of Jewish Life Before and During the Holocaust, vol. II, eds. S. Spector, G. Wigoder, New York 2001, p. 794.
  • Führer durch die jüdische Gemeindeverwaltung und Wohlfahrtspflege in Deutschland: 1932–1933, Berlin 1933, s. 30.

 

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