Kleineicholzheim

First Jewish presence: 18th century; peak Jewish population: 107 in 1864; Jewish population in 1933: 28

The Jewish community of Kleineicholzheim developed in the 18th century and peaked at 107 members (just over a third of the total population) in 1864. Services were conducted in a rented hall until 1845, when the community inaugurated a synagogue in a section of a local castle. The synagogue housed a classroom and an apartment for a teacher, and we also know that one of the castle’s fountains was converted into a mikveh. Burials were conducted in Boedigheim. In 1933, 28 Jews lived in Kleineicholzheim; two children studied religion with a teacher from Grosseicholzheim. Two Jews moved to Kleineicholzheim after 1933, and a baby was born there. On Pogrom Night, non-local SA men destroyed the synagogue’s interior. Jewish homes and properties were also damaged, and the two remaining Jewish men were sent to Dachau. Fourteen Kleineicholzheim Jews immigrated to the United States, two died in Kleineicholzheim and 15, the last, were deported to Gurs in October 1940. At least 12 local Jews perished in the Shoah. The synagogue building housed German refugees after the war, not long after which, during the 1950s, it was converted into an apartment building. A memorial plaque has been unveiled outside city hall, opposite the former synagogue site.

Heike Zaun Goshen

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

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