Bingen

First Jewish presence: 10th century; peak Jewish population: 713 in 1900; Jewish population in 1933: 465

Bingen’s medieval Jewish community maintained a synagogue, a school and a mikveh. In 1490 and in 1689, synagogues in Bingen were destroyed by fire. A new synagogue was established on the Judengasse in 1700, and although it, too, was damaged by fire in 1789, the building was subsequently renovated and enlarged. Rebuilt between 1831 and 1838, the synagogue was renovated on several occasions, the last of which was in 1891. In 1871, after an organ was installed in the synagogue, the town’s Orthodox Jews decided to create a separate community with their own rabbi and prayer hall (the latter was dedicated in 1876). In 1905, the mainstream community built a larger synagogue—218 seats for men, 171 for women and 60 Torah scrolls—at 10-12 Rochusstrasse. Bingen’s Jewish cemetery, consecrated in 1562, was enlarged in 1856. The Orthodox section—it had been established in 1872—was desecrated in 1889, as was the general section in 1905. We also know that the community ran a Jewish school between 1826 and 1835. In 1933, a teacher/chazzan instructed 56 schoolchildren in religion. The general community’s rabbi was Ignatz Maybaum. Several Jewish associations and branches of nationwide Jewish organizations were active in Bingen. On Pogrom Night, rioters wrecked the Rochusstrasse synagogue, after which the building was set on fire. The interior of the Orthodox prayer room was destroyed, ritual objects from both buildings were thrown onto the street, all Jewish-owned stores and many Jewish homes were damaged and Jewish men were arrested and sent to concentration camps. The synagogue ruins were sold to a local group of residents who opened a wine shop in the damaged building. Two hundred and ninety-six Bingen Jews either emigrated from or relocated in Germany before 1941. The remaining Jews were moved into a few Jewish-owned homes. In March 1942, 76 were deported to Piaski and 64 to Theresienstadt; and in September 1942, six were deported to Theresienstadt, as were four others in February 1943. At least 264 Bingen Jews perished in the Shoah. In 1983, a memorial plaque was unveiled at the site of the former Rochusstrasse synagogue.

Nurit Borut and Maren Cohen

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

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