Neunkirchen

First Jewish presence: 1776; peak Jewish population: 234 in 1925; Jewish population in 1933: 211

The Jewish community of Neunkirchen established its communal institutions during the 19th century: a cemetery in 1831 (enlarged in 1880); a community center with a prayer room in 1847; a synagogue, built on the ruins of a Renaissance castle, in 1865 (renovated in 1921/22); and a school, presided over by a teacher who also served as chazzan and shochet, at some point during the 19th century. In 1933, a total 211 Jews lived in Neunkirchen and in the affiliated communities of Elversberg, Spiesen, Schiffweiler and Wiebelskirchen. A chevra kadisha, a Jewish women’s association and a youth group were active in the community. Most Jews left Neunkirchen after the Saarland was returned to the German Reich in March 1935. Local Jews were assaulted and arrested on Pogrom Night, and the synagogue was burned down. Cleared in 1939, the synagogue site was sold to the municipality in 1942. Neunkirchen’s Jewish cemetery, desecrated in 1938/39, was later bought by a local brewer. One hundred and ten Neunkirchen Jews emigrated; 59 relocated within Germany; and seven, the last, were deported to Gurs, France, on October 22, 1940, and to the Drancy camp, also in France, in February 1944. At least 60 Neunkirchen Jews perished in the Shoah. In 1945, a combined residential and commercial building was built on the former synagogue site (present-day address: Oberer Markt/Irrgartenstrasse); in 1978, a commemorative plaque was erected there. A memorial has also been unveiled at the cemetery, which, since its reopening in 1955, has been repeatedly vandalized. The new, small Jewish community of Neunkirchen was founded in 1970.

Heike Zaun Goshen

Copyright: Pogrom Night 1938 - A Memorial to the Destroyed Synagogues of Germany/ Germansynagogues.com

---