Jewish community of Massenbachhausen

The Jewish community in Massenbachhausen in the Heilbronn district in northern Baden-Württemberg existed from the early 18th century. After the synagogue in Massenbachhausen was built in 1826 , the place became the seat of an Israelite religious community in 1832 with the branches of Massenbach and Bonfeld . When the community, which still had 54 people in 1854, dwindled in the 1860s due to emigration and emigration, the seat of the religious community was relocated to neighboring Masenbach and the synagogue was sold in 1872. After that, only a few Jews lived in Massenbachhausen. The last Jewish resident died in 1926.

history

The former synagogue in Massenbachhausen

The first documented mentions of Jews in Massenbachhausen come from the late 17th century during the time of the local rule of the Barons von Dalberg . After a few Jews were mentioned from 1684 onwards, these seem to have moved again in the course of the Palatinate War of Succession around 1689.

In 1707/08 there are again evidence of six Jewish families who, however, were completely impoverished as a result of the French invasions of that time. Although the economic situation improved in the following years, during the 18th century there were mostly six Jewish families in the area, who from 1737 were under the protection of the barons of Neipperg as the new local rule and paid protection money to them . A rabbi (1709 Rebe Marum) was present at the site early on , and there is evidence of a synagogue as early as 1736 . The traditional burial of the Massenbachhausen Jews was at the Jewish cemetery in Heinsheim .

At the beginning of the 19th century the size of the community increased slightly. In 1823 there were eight families, in 1828 there were 43 people. The Jewish community built the synagogue in Massenbachhausen in 1826 , whereupon Massenbachhausen became the seat of an Israelite religious community when the church was reorganized in 1832, to which the communities in Massenbach and Bonfeld were assigned as subsidiary communities.

The fact that the Jews of Massenbachhausen achieved their income in particular through the " chess trade " aroused the displeasure of the political community, which insisted that the Jews should in future earn their income from land for which they were encouraged to purchase goods. After the Jewish community had reached its largest number of members around 1854 with 54 people at the time, the size of the community fell sharply in the following years as a result of emigration and emigration. In 1869 there were only 16 Jewish residents left. The seat of the religious community was therefore moved to Massenbach in the 1860s, where the cult objects of the synagogue, which was sold in 1872, were also brought. From 1886 to 1910 only 7 or 8 Jews lived on site. Julius Hochherr ran a cigar factory there around 1900, but moved to Heilbronn in 1908 . The last Jewish resident of Massenbachhausen died in 1926.

National Socialist Persecution

The memorial book of the Federal Archives lists Leopold Dreifuss, born in Massenbachhausen, as a victim of genocide during the National Socialist regime .

Common names

When all Jews in Württemberg had to accept hereditary family names in 1828, the 11 heads of the Massenbachhausen Jews took the following names: Strauss (3), Dreifuss (2), Meinhold (2), Ettinger (1), Meckesheimer (1), Wertheimer (1 ) and Wolenberger (1).

Individual evidence

1. ^ Commemorative Book - Victims of the Persecution of Jews under the National Socialist Tyranny in Germany 1933 - 1945 . Retrieved October 29, 2009.

literature

• Wolfram Angerbauer , Hans Georg Frank: Jewish communities in the district and city of Heilbronn. History, fates, documents . District of Heilbronn, Heilbronn 1986 ( series of publications of the district of Heilbronn . Volume 1)