Jewish community Altenstadt (Iller)

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The Jewish community of Altenstadt was a Jewish community in Altenstadt (Iller) in the Bavarian district of Neu-Ulm that existed from 1651 to 1942 .

history

Map of the synagogue and the Jewish houses from 1807
Memorial plaque of the Altenstadt synagogue

On October 17, 1651 Baron Caspar von Rechberg issued a letter of protection for five Jewish families. This gave them the right to settle in Altenstadt. On March 1, 1719, five more Jewish families were accepted into the settlement at the foot of the castle . The houses of the Jews were built and rented out by the local authorities. Every Jew had to pay a protection fee of 20 guilders per year to the rulers . In addition, there was a goose as a gift from a Jewish family to the rulers and a death benefit of two guilders.

In 1807, 360 people of Jewish faith were counted in Altenstadt . In 1834 the Jewish community peaked at 403 people. 50% of the local population were of Jewish faith. After that, the number fell due to emigration and emigration. In 1910, 72 of the 1,393 inhabitants were still Jewish, which corresponds to 5.2% of the population. In 1933 there were still 46 Jewish people living on site. In 1941/42 the remaining 42 inhabitants were deported to extermination camps and murdered there.

Synagogue , Jewish school , ritual bath and a Jewish cemetery in the neighboring Illereichen were elementary facilities of the Kehillah . From 1815 to 1828 non-Jewish teachers taught at the school. By 1878 Altenstadt had its own rabbi . After that was rabbinate Old City moved together with the rabbinate Fellheim to Augsburg. There were three local Jewish associations, the Holy Brotherhood ( Chewra Kadisha , founded in 1747), the Talmud Torah Association (founded in 1847), and the Holy Sisterhood (Chewra Noshim, founded in 1842). The aim of the associations was to support those in need and migrants. They were also involved in nursing and funeral services.

Jewish community in wartime

In the Franco-Prussian War from 1870 to 1871, soldier Moritz Wallenheimer fell from the Jewish community. During the First World War , the Jewish community consisted of 60 people. Sixteen young men from the ward were called to serve the Fatherland . Twelve were deployed in the war, five of which were awarded the Iron Cross, second class. Three soldiers died in the course of the war. The names Josef Siegfried Marx, Gustav Feissel and Isak Gerstle are noted on a board at the entrance to the Illereichen Jewish cemetery.

On November 25, 1925 at 9:30 a.m., the inauguration of the memorial for Israeli war victims in the synagogue in Altenstadt took place with the participation of almost the entire population .

History of the synagogue

In 1719 the first synagogue was built. The timber was a gift from the noble rulers of Rechberg. In 1802 the new synagogue was built on what is now Memminger Strasse 47. The architect was Johann Nepomuk Salzgeber from Buch bei Illertissen . It has been described as one of the most monumental village synagogues in the former German Empire . In 1902 the centenary was celebrated for two days with the participation of the entire village population. On the Torah shrine it was written: Da lifne mi atoh aumed (Know who you are standing in front of).

There were already attacks on the synagogue and the Jewish cemetery in March 1922. In 1931 the local Heimatverein visited the synagogue under the leadership of the Catholic priest.

November 10, 1938

On November 10, 1938 , around a hundred people gathered in the square in front of the synagogue to listen to a speech by a local SS leader. A group of fifteen SS men who had set off by bicycle from Vöhringen an der Iller to Altenstadt were among the local listeners. The SS leader asked the local population to cut off contact with Jews and no longer shop in Jewish shops. Then there was a march of the incited crowd. A Jewish woman's shop and apartment were destroyed. Under the leadership of the SS men who broke open the synagogue door, the demonstrators broke into the synagogue. They smashed the windows, burned prayer books, Bibles, and other rituals . The poor fund was stolen. The Torah scrolls were brought to the state archive in Neuburg an der Donau by the police . After that, windows and company signs were smashed from Jewish shops. On November 11th, the synagogue's Torah shrine was set on fire. When the synagogue was about to be set on fire, citizens of the city prevented it. Five Jews from Illereichen were arrested. Three Jewish people, including a woman, were held in the local prison for two weeks without trial. The synagogue now served as a garage and was demolished in 1955. The ritual bath was demolished in 1920. The Jewish school was used as a kindergarten after 1945 and sold to private individuals in 1977. In 1984 a commemorative plaque with the following inscription was attached to the residential and commercial building that had been built at the synagogue site:

The grass withers, the flower withers, but the word of our God remains forever. ( Isa 40,8)

Since 2008 there has been a steel stele in the form of a scroll in the same place .

Demographic statistics

year Resident of the Jewish denomination Total population
1834 403
1854 250
1890 190
1900 100
1910 72 1393
1924 60 1400
1933 46
1940 24

See also

literature

  • Baruch Z. Ophir, Falk Wiesemann : The Jewish communities in Bavaria 1918–1945. History and destruction. Munich / Vienna 1979.
  • Gernot Römer: The suffering of the Jews in Swabia. Augsburg 1983.

Web links

Commons : Jüdische Gemeinde Altenstadt (Iller)  - Collection of images, videos and audio files