Ebersheim

First Jewish presence: mid-18th century; peak Jewish population: 82 in 1871; Jewish population in 1933: 25

In 1844, the Ebersheim Jewish community inaugurated a synagogue at 7 Mainzer Strasse (present-day 6 Konrad Adenauer Strasse). Ebersheim’s Jewish cemetery, established near Zornheim in the first half of the 19th century, also served the affiliated community of Harzheim. In the mid- 19th century the Jews of Ebersheim employed a teacher of religion who also performed the duties of chazzan; later, when community membership began to dwindle, schoolchildren studied religion with a teacher from Hechtsheim. In 1933, when 25 Jews lived in Ebersheim, synagogue services were held only on Shabbat and holidays. On Pogrom Night, 1938—13 Jews lived in Ebersheim that year—Nazis set fire to the synagogue, destroying the interior, and heavily damaged five Jewish homes. During the Nazi period, eight Ebersheim Jews emigrated from Germany and 17 relocated within the country. In January 1940, the remaining Jewish residents left for Mainz, from where they were deported to Theresienstadt in 1941. At least eight Ebersheim Jews perished in the Shoah. In 1956, the former synagogue building was demolished. A memorial plaque was later unveiled in Ebersheim to commemorate the destroyed community and its synagogue.

Esther Sarah Evans

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

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