History of the Jews in Hamm

The history of the Jews in Hamm begins already a few decades after the foundation of the city of Hamm in 1226. A Hebrew martyrology, written down in 1296, mentions two Jewish refugees from Hamm. In 1327, Bishop Gottfried of Osnabrück allowed some Jews to settle in the town founded a hundred years earlier. The relationship between Hamm's Jews and the rest of the population was characterized by tensions and mutual distrust, as was common in Germany. Nevertheless, for centuries the Jews were indispensable financial backers of the authorities. In 1938, Hamm's synagogue was destroyed during the November pogroms. The Jews in Hamm were deprived of their livelihood during the Nazi regime and deported unless they could save themselves by fleeing abroad. Their numbers have since dwindled to such an extent that they no longer form a community of their own. In 1953 the few remaining Hammer Jews joined the Jewish community of Greater Dortmund.