by Birgit Ammann, Color photographs from 2024
Darkehmen, now Osjorsk in the south of the Kaliningrad Oblast of Russia is a small rural town that historically belonged to East Prussia. The town was renamed Angerapp between 1938 and 1946 and has borne its current name, Osjorsk, since 1946. Darkehmen was thriving as a district town and was well-known from its nine cattle, horse and general fairs per year.
Beginnings
The first Jews came to Darkehmen through these fairs at the beginning of the 19th century. The first person to settle was the merchant Jacob Isaac Schopp from Stallupönen, about 40 km away. As a result of the objection of the Darkehmer merchants, he had to promise to “deal with tailoring and ribbons in detail, and not to harm the local merchants in any way,” but he signed conscientiously and cleverly, “I am signing only for myself and not for my successors.”
In 1824, Schopp together with two other merchants – Schlomann Lewin and Salamon Adam – bought land for a cemetery in front of the Protestant churchyard by the road to the village of Menturren. Lewin was hired as cantor and teacher in 1826 and thus became the first Jewish religious official in town. Schopp bought a house on the street leading to the village of Gudwallen in 1832. His family was based in Darkehmen until at least 1873, the Adam family at least until 1871.
In 1847, in accordance with the relevant Prussian legislation, the establishment of a synagogue congregation was initiated. Later, a prayer room was rented.
Cemetery – No Synagogue
In 1925 the Christian cemetery from 1808, which had been expanded in 1837 and 1880, surrounded the Jewish cemetery on three sides. The Jewish cemetery had been devastated in 1938; there is no trace of it left today. There has not been a synagogue at any time.
Shop Owners – Decline – End
In the collective memory of the town in the 19thirties and -forties about twelve Jewish families were known by name that have been closely connected to Darkehmen, most of them as shop owners. Some had been living there for several generations, and some were connected through intermarriage.
The number of Jewish families had already been going down around 1865. In 1871 forty-four Jews have been registered, in 1880 ninety one Jews have been registered, in 1905 forty-eight. In 1931 members of the Jewish Community – somewhat contradictory to other numbers – reportedly remembered that before the First World War, 40 families had been living in Darkehmen. In 1932, despite the formal existence of the community, there were barely twelve Jews living there (among 3,375 inhabitants – 0.4% of the total population), with only two children being taught religion. The Darkehmen community included two other localities: Klein Darkehmen; nowadays part of Osjorsk and Trempen, nowadays Nоwоstrоjevо. Erich Sommerfeld had been the longtime head of the community.
In May 1939 no Jewish resident had been left, only one woman, “half Jewish” in Nazi-terminology had been able to stay on. until the expulsion of the entire German population after Worl War II.
This text can also be found in the project on Geni.com: “Jewish families connected to Darkehmen/Angerapp, East Prussia (now Osjorsk/Oɜepck Kaliningrad)”
https://www.geni.com/projects/Jewish-families-connected-to-Darkehmen-Angerapp-East-Prussia-now-Osjorsk-O%C9%9Cepck-Kaliningrad/4509320
