A Perfidious Assault in the Middle of the Night: On March 14, 1935 a ”political
incident” at Burghaun was reported to the district administration in Huenfeld: Perpetrators
approaching from Huenfeld at about 1:30am smashed the windows and shutters of several
Jewish families. On the same day the district administration received
a ”report regarding the demolition of shop windows in Jewish businesses” in Huenfeld
at the Leo Nussbaum and Joseph Strauss properties. According to police investigations
the assaults in Huenfeld as well as in Burghaun were most likely committed by the same
offenders. The GESTAPO in Kassel established that the owner of the vehicle used in the
crime was the ”Kreisbauernfuehrer” - head of county farmers - Salzmann from Fuersten-eck, which made it apparent that the passengers of the vehicle must have been the offen-ders in question. The GESTAPO, however, did not investigate any further ”since all the
victims had withdrawn legal proceedings.” The ”Kreisbauernfuehrer” was known to be
a fanatic and unscrupulous Jew-hater, thus one can imagine that massive pressure had
been exerted upon the victimized Jews, and it is not surprising to learn from the records:
The pending proceedings against Salzmann regarding vandalism ” are being abandoned
since his participation in the crime could not be proven beyond resonable doubt”.
An official police report about the nightly assault on the
business properties of Leo Nussbaum and Joseph Strauss
reads as follows:
Life under the swastika up to ”Kristallnacht”
