Birkenfeld

First Jewish presence: 1808; peak Jewish population: 76 in 1900; Jewish population in 1933: 37

Birkenfeld Jews belonged to the Hoppstaedten community until 1892, when they gained the status of a sub-community (Filialgemeinde). The independent Jewish community of Birkenfeld was founded in 1923. The community established a prayer hall in 1831/32, but it was closed down when the Hoppstaedten community demanded that Birkenfeld Jews attend services in Hoppstaedten. Nevertheless, in 1863, a synagogue was inaugurated at 5 Schlossallee (renovated in 1912/13). The Jewish cemetery in Birkenfeld dates back to the 1890s. Until 1914, the community employed a teacher of religion who also functioned as chazzan and shochet. During the Weimar period and after, religious instruction was provided by the Hoppstaedten rabbi. By the end of the 1920s, regular services were no longer held in the Birkenfeld synagogue. In 1933, eight schoolchildren received religious instruction. A Jewish women’s association and a charitable society were active in the community that year. Although the Birkenfeld synagogue had been sold in May 1938, it was nevertheless set on fire on Pogrom Night. The blaze was quickly extinguished, but rioters broke the synagogue’s windows and those in Jewish homes. Stones from the synagogue—the building was demolished in March 1939—were used to build a government office. Most Jews left Birkenfeld during the Nazi period. At least one Jew died in the village, and two Jewish women, Birkenfeld’s last, were deported to the East in April 1942. At least 12 Birkenfeld Jews perished in the Shoah. A memorial plaque was unveiled at the cemetery in 1969; in 1988, a memorial stone was unveiled at the former synagogue site.

Nurit Borut

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

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