Lessingstraße 10, home of the Steinberg family
On the night of November 9-10, 1938, Nazi Germany carried out a targeted campaign of violence against the Jewish population: businesses run by them were looted, homes destroyed and their synagogues burned down. More than a thousand Jewish citizens lost their lives in the campaign and many thousands were arrested and deported. The police, long since turned into a tool of the Nazi system, did not intervene.
In Wolfenbüttel, SA men coming from Braunschweig were driven in front of the synagogue in Lessingstraße at around two o'clock in the morning on November 10. They forced their way into the building, smashed all the fixtures and fittings and set fire to the place of worship. The fire department, which only arrived hours later, had to limit itself to preventing the flames from spreading to the neighboring houses.
Siegfried Steinberg was the cantor of the Jewish community and lived right next door to the synagogue with his wife, children and grandchildren. In a newspaper interview at the end of the 1970s, a neighbor at the time recalled how she was standing in the front garden when the men forced their way into the Steinbergs' apartment. She recounts how the SS men gave free rein to their destructive rage, slashing comforters, smashing crockery and even a violin. They also beat Siegfried Steinberg and shouted at him that it was he who had set everything on fire.
Father and son Steinberg were arrested that night and deported to Buchenwald concentration camp. Siegfried Steinberg returned ten days later. Son Ernst was not released until January 1939. He fled to Ecuador with his wife and child.
Siegfried Steinberg tried in vain to follow his son there. He was deported to Warsaw in 1942. He did not return.
On the night of November 9-10, 1938, Nazi Germany carried out a targeted campaign of violence against the Jewish population: businesses run by them were looted, homes destroyed and their synagogues burned down. More than a thousand Jewish citizens lost their lives in the campaign and many thousands were arrested and deported. The police, long since turned into a tool of the Nazi system, did not intervene.
In Wolfenbüttel, SA men coming from Braunschweig were driven in front of the synagogue in Lessingstraße at around two o'clock in the morning on November 10. They forced their way into the building, smashed all the fixtures and fittings and set fire to the place of worship. The fire department, which only arrived hours later, had to limit itself to preventing the flames from spreading to the neighboring houses.
Siegfried Steinberg was the cantor of the Jewish community and lived right next door to the synagogue with his wife, children and grandchildren. In a newspaper interview at the end of the 1970s, a neighbor at the time recalled how she was standing in the front garden when the men forced their way into the Steinbergs' apartment. She recounts how the SS men gave free rein to their destructive rage, slashing comforters, smashing crockery and even a violin. They also beat Siegfried Steinberg and shouted at him that it was he who had set everything on fire.
Father and son Steinberg were arrested that night and deported to Buchenwald concentration camp. Siegfried Steinberg returned ten days later. Son Ernst was not released until January 1939. He fled to Ecuador with his wife and child.
Siegfried Steinberg tried in vain to follow his son there. He was deported to Warsaw in 1942. He did not return.
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Eligibility
for individual guests
Pet allowed
for Children of the age of 10 upwards
Payment Options
free of charge
Contact person
Stadt Wolfenbüttel / Abteilung 412
Ms. Lena Simon
Löwentor, Löwenstraße 1
38300 Wolfenbüttel
Author
Lessingstadt Wolfenbüttel
Stadtmarkt 3-6
38300 Wolfenbüttel
Organization
Lessingstadt Wolfenbüttel
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