Bitburg

First Jewish presence: 18th century; peak Jewish population: 73 in 1905; Jewish population in 1933: 65

Beginning in the mid-1800s, the Bitburg community maintained a prayer room in a private residence. The foundation stone for a new synagogue was laid in 1877, but lack of funds delayed construction for another two years; the new synagogue also housed a mikveh and a classroom. After 1890, burials were conducted in the cemetery on Erdorfer Strasse. The community was able, for an unspecified period, to employ a teacher of religion who also performed the duties of shochet and chazzan. By 1925, however, Jewish schoolchildren were tutored in private residences. In 1933, twelve schoolchildren received religious instruction. Bitburg’s Jewish women’s association had 18 members. On Pogrom Night, rioters vandalized and desecrated the synagogue. Later, in 1944, the building was destroyed during an air raid. Seventeen Bitburg Jews emigrated from Germany (15 went to the United States), others relocated within the country and eight, the village’s last, were deported to the East in 1942. At least 24 Bitburg Jews perished in the Shoah. The synagogue ruins were pulled down in 1952, after which a gas station was built on the site; the land was sold yet again in 1975 and, later, converted into a parking lot. A plaque commemorating Bitburg’s former Jewish community was unveiled at the former synagogue site following President Reagan’s controversial visit to the nearby military cemetery in 1985. The Jewish cemetery also houses a memorial plaque.

Heike Zaun Goshen

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

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