Bretzenheim

First Jewish presence: 1517; peak Jewish population: 84 in 1861; Jewish population in 1933: 26

Although we do not know how many Jews lived in Bretzenheim in the 16th century, records do tell us that they had established a synagogue by 1580. In 1742, the community conducted services in a prayer hall, located in a private residence, which was presumably used until the establishment, in 1788, of a synagogue on the corner of Wilhelmstrasse and Oberpforte (a mikveh was installed there a few years later). The synagogue was destroyed in the war of 1795, after which the congregation conducted services in a private residence until the 1810s, when a new house of worship was inaugurated on its predecessor’s site; later, in 1912, the seating capacity was increased from 34 to over 50. Beginning in 1883, the Jews of Bretzenheim maintained their own cemetery; and in 1912, a new cemetery was consecrated inside the municipal graveyard. We also know that the community employed a teacher of religion—he performed the duties of chazzan and shochet—until World War I. In 1933, one Jewish child received religious instruction. On Pogrom Night, rioters vandalized the synagogue’s interior and incinerated the Torah scrolls. In Finthen (an affiliated community), Jewish homes and property were heavily damaged. The synagogue was sold into private ownership in 1939. Five Jewish families from Bretzenheim emigrated (four went to the United States). In March 1942, 17 local Jews were deported to Poland. At least eight Bretzenheim Jews perished in the Shoah. The synagogue—it was heavily damaged during a wartime aerial bombing—was demolished in 1946. A memorial plaque has been erected in Bretzenheim.

Heike Zaun Goshen

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

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