Press Report on the Closure of the
Derby Hebrew Congregation

Jewish Chronicle, 8 August 1986

Derby has its final service
By Jackie Daniels

After almost 90 years, the Derby Hebrew Congregation has been wound up.

The final service, held in its small synagogue in Burton Road, was conducted by Dr Stacey Daniels, a dentist, and attended by some 40 people. The Sifrei Torah and their ornaments have been taken to the Nottingham Synagogue, with which Derby has always had close ties. The Almemar, Ark, Pews and other interior furniture have been acquired by the Margate Reform Congregation following an advertisement placed by the Derby congregation in the "Jewish Chronicle." Originally, the community was known as the Derby and Burton-on-Trent Hebrew Congregation. Services were first held in the Burton Masonic Hall.

In its heyday, the congregation numbered about 150 people. During the Second World War, the number was increased by evacuees from London and other major cities. Refugees from Hitler's Europe also found sanctuary in the town and close contacts between the community and a nearby American army camp resulted in several marriages between girls of the community and American GIs.

In 1948, Rabbi Abraham Maurice Rose was appointed minister, teacher and shochet to the community. He left some four years later to take up a post at Sutton, Surrey, subsequently became executive director to the Chief Rabbi's Office, and now lives in Israel.