Jewish community of Schweinfurt
The Jewish community of Schweinfurt existed in the so-called first era in Schweinfurt from the 13th century to 1555 in Judengasse, in the old commercial district on the Main . After a period without a congregation, the city's last congregation existed from 1863 to 1942 in the second era . The last reference to Jewish life in Schweinfurt is a memorial on the fire wall of the house at Siebenbrückleinsgasse 12. The modern community center was located on the large property No. 14 in a former orchard in the western old town . The front building from 1888 formed the parish hall and the rear building the synagogue built in 1874 . Right next to it was the Bürgerhof (Schranne), today's private customer center of the Sparkasse Schweinfurt-Haßberge . The synagogue was not set on fire during the Reichspogromnacht , but was later destroyed in bombing attacks, but the parish hall was only damaged and then converted into a residential building. It was acquired by the Städtische Sparkasse and demolished in the 1970s to expand their neighboring customer parking lot, which at that time was already on the site of the former synagogue.
history
Middle Ages: The First Jewish Era 1200–1555
First Jews in the city
Jews are first mentioned in Schweinfurt in 1212: Abraham from Schweinfurt signs a certificate in Würzburg as a witness. In 1243 Marquard, the Butigler of Nuremberg , assigned 50 silver marks for the Jews in Schweinfurt from the money he was to receive from Heinrich the Elect of Bamberg . In the following period, isolated Jewish families can be found in Schweinfurt who were affected by both the Rintfleisch pogrom in 1298 and the plague pogrom from 1348 to 1351. With the latter with the accusation of well poisoning. Jakob von Schweinfurt, who was one of the new founders of the second medieval Jewish community in Erfurt in 1357 , was probably a survivor of the pogroms .
Origin of the community
In 1368 the imperial city of Schweinfurt was granted the privilege of the emperor Charles IV (1346-1378) to once again admit Jews (of the emperor's servants) into its walls until further notice . In the period that followed, the Jews who settled in Schweinfurt could live relatively freely and safely in return for paying high taxes. In 1420 the imperial city received another privilege from King Sigismund (1411–1437) to accept Jews as tax objects ( Judenzins ). In 1424 the taxes to the Kaiser, which the Schweinfurt Jews had to pay, amounted to half of their income. In 1429, King Sigismund's permission was limited to 20 years, for which the Jews received tax exemption. They should be unconcerned, uninvited and unreachable by everyone. This exemption was lifted as early as 1433, the year Sigismiund was crowned emperor.
Period around 1500: Synagogue in Judengasse
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Judengasse today ...
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... the synagogue was at the far right house
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Under Sigismund's care, the Jews of Schweinfurt enjoyed some rights. At the beginning of the 15th century they were able to move around relatively freely, lived mainly on money lending and some traded in goods, especially wine. The jurisdiction among them had a specially appointed Judenrat . The families lived near the market square, in the old commercial district on the Main. The Judengasse is mentioned for the first time in 1436, it is paved. Today there is a legend sign on the street sign with the inscription:
Judengasse Until the expulsion after the ruin of the city in 1554, residence of the Jewish community, then consisting of 16 families. First documented as a street name in 1436
In 1437, the Jews had to participate in German house purchases for tax purposes when the imperial city acquired the Teutonic Order's possessions northeast of the city ( Peterstirn , Altstadt , Hilpersdorf , Zell , Weipoltshausen , Deutschhof , Thomashof , Ottenhausen and Weipoltsdorf ). In 1444, the Jews must for the purpose of the coronation of Kaiser Friedrich III (1440–1493) pay a third of their wealth as coronation tax.
In 1479, when the building was renovated, the synagogue was first mentioned, probably with a mikveh (Jewish bath) . The current Friederike-Schäfer-Heim (old people's home) on Judengasse / corner of Nussgasse is assumed to be the location. The synagogue probably stood at the south-western end of Judengasse, in place of the former houses at Judengasse 25 and 27, today's north and east wings of the old people's home. The synagogue had three street fronts: to Judengasse, to Petersgasse and to the western extension of today's Nussgasse (once also Petersgasse , which ran through from Spitalstrasse to the bank of the Main before the old people's home was built). The Judenbad was located under or next to the synagogue. The Jewish community must have had a head, a Judenrat and probably also a rabbi . The medieval Jewish cemetery was located at today's Jägersbrunnen, 500 m west of Judengasse (see: Jewish cemetery, medieval cemetery ).
In the years 1492/93 Jews from Schweinfurt had to pay Leibzoll (escort protection when traveling). As early as 1500, the imperial city had King Maximilian I (1486–1519) confirm the ownership of the synagogue and the Jewish cemetery in the event that Jews sooner or later no longer live in Schweinfurt. In the Peasants' War in 1525, Jews from Schweinfurt also had to participate in the resistance against the rebellious peasants. King Ferdinand I (1531–1564) gave the imperial city the privilege in 1542 that no Jew was allowed to settle in Schweinfurt without a permit. In 1544, the Schweinfurt Jews complained about the blockade of their school on May 1st, threatening to file a lawsuit with the Reich Chamber of Commerce .
Expulsion of the Jews from the city
As a result of the Second Margrave War , Schweinfurt was burned down in 1554 (see: Schweinfurt, Second City Verderben ). The medieval Jewish community then came to an end in 1554/1555. The motive for the action of the Schweinfurters was their heavy indebtedness with the Jews. On September 3, 1555, Emperor Charles V (1519–1556) granted the imperial city the privilege of preventing Jews who lived in Schweinfurt before the ruin of the city and who want to rebuild their burned down houses. The city does not need to accept any more Jews in the future, with the official justification of Jewish usury. Until then, Schweinfurt was the only imperial city far and wide that still had residents of the Jewish faith. The synagogue was closed in 1555.
After their expulsion from Schweinfurt, Jews a. a. in Euerbach, 8 km to the west . It was also the burial place of Jewish citizens of the neighboring villages of Obbach and Niederwerrn . 1171 tombstones in the Jewish cemetery in Euerbach bear witness to a long Jewish history. Funerals were still held here until 1940.
Meanwhile: Jews as guests
Between 1555 and 1817 there were no resident Jews in the city, only " Jews who stayed here for a longer period of time" . According to the council minutes of June 8, 1573, Jews have to pay front gate tax when entering the city. Already from the council minutes of 1634 one learns that meanwhile many Jews were staying in the city again, looking for lodging and accommodation there for a short time. A decree of 1636 informed the citizens of Schweinfurt that they would have to expel the Jews immediately if they were punished and that they would no longer be allowed to stay overnight, but that the people of Schweinfurt would not obey. A police order from 1651 expresses their displeasure among the Schweinfurt citizens that they are again seeking fellowship with the Jews and doing financial transactions with them. Various ordinances regulated business dealings with Jews in the 17th and 18th centuries . However, it was not allowed to settle down. In the period from 1555 until the loss of imperial freedom in 1802, Jews were no longer allowed to take permanent residence here. They were only allowed to stay overnight, for which they had to pay a fee.
Modern Times: The Second Jewish Era 1813–1942
Beginnings of the new church
The edict on the conditions of Jewish co-religionists in the Kingdom of Baiern , the Bavarian Jewish edict of 1813 , came into force for Lower Franconia in December 1816. Jews are accorded almost the same rights as their Christian environment. You are now allowed to purchase land and gain access to the country's universities. Intellectual and social integration is made possible. However, the Jews had to register in the register , which regulated upper limits for each place. After about 250 years, Jewish families were again allowed to settle in Schweinfurt - with the permission of the state rulers. This aroused displeasure, especially among guilds and guilds that feared Jewish competition. In 1817 Michael Moises Kleemann and his son Kusel moved in from the nearby Schonungen (wine trade and economy) amid strong protest by the city of Schweinfurt, which feared the ruin of its own merchant class . After the matriculation paragraph was abolished in 1861, more and more Jewish families settled in Schweinfurt. They held their first service in the autumn of 1862 in a garden restaurant on Johannisgasse. In 1863 there were already 12 Jewish families and 7 families living in Schweinfurt.
On April 26, 1863, the Israelites resident and resident in the city decided to found a community and agreed upon statutes, initially of a provisional nature, without official approval . The application for the formation of a (new) Israelite religious community followed on July 11, 1864 at the city magistrate and was decreed by the royal government on August 8. In 1864 the Niederwerrn district rabbinate was relocated to Schweinfurt as the Schweinfurt district rabbinate . District rabbi Mayer Lebrecht, who had previously worked in Niederwerrn, now took up this position in Schweinfurt.
Most of the Jews in Schweinfurt belong to the middle-class middle class, as business people, lawyers, doctors or directors.
Synagogue in Siebenbrückleinsgasse
In 1866 the religious community bought the property at Siebenbrückleinsgasse 14, in the old town near the Roßmarkt. The location is only 300 m west of the former medieval synagogue in Judengasse. The property was suitable for provisionally meeting all needs in the front building with a prayer room. The corresponding orchard behind in the inner courtyard could serve as a synagogue building site. The front building soon became too small and in 1872 a decision was made to build a new synagogue, for which a synagogue building foundation was established in 1865. The synagogue was inaugurated on September 4, 1874. The longitudinal facades resembled a Christian church, with neo-Gothic pointed arched windows . The main entrance led to the men's synagogue on the ground floor and another entrance to the women's gallery , in Bavaria's first synagogue with an organ . First, reform services with organ accompaniment were held in the synagogue during the time of Rabbi Maier Lebrecht.
A liberal Jewish newspaper read the following about the inauguration:
- “It is well known that hyperorthodoxy and obscurantism continue to flourish in the most lush bloom in Lower Franconia, and nowhere is there a trace of progress in the religious field; only the community of Schweinfurt takes the zeitgeist into account; for the organ and singing will be introduced in the new synagogue, which will be completed in a few weeks. […] The progress and achievements of the local community are doubly in the balance if you consider that about 15 years ago the Jews were not allowed to stay here at all. " (Allgemeine Zeitung des Judentums, August 4, 1874)
However, during the tenure of Rabbi Dr. Salomon Stein (1890–1934) returned to the orthodox direction with traditional liturgy . Rabbi Stein was also chairman of the Association of Law-abiding Israelite Communities in Bavaria. As a result, its annual meetings were held regularly in Schweinfurt.
In 1874 the new cemetery of the city of Schweinfurt, today's main cemetery, was laid out. On November 18 of the same year, the Jewish cemetery located within this large, new cemetery area was inaugurated. In 1888, the Jewish community center (school and residence of the rabbi) was built as a new front building. At that time, 24 children from the community received religious instruction. All the facilities of a Jewish community were now available: synagogue with rabbi, ritual bath, Jewish school (religious school) with an employed teacher who also worked as a shochet , community library , cemetery and mortuary. The synagogue was expanded by 50 seats in 1920 and renovated in 1928.
Jewish associations
At Jewish associations there was the Israelitische Frauenverein (founded 1864), the Israelitische Armen- und Wandererunterstützungskasse, or Wandererunterstützungsverein (1864), the Israelitischen charity association Chewra Gemilus Chassodim eV (1882), the Jewish youth association (1918), the association for Jewish history and Literature, the Concordia association (care for sociability) and local groups of the Central Association and the Reich Association of Jewish Front Soldiers.
Jewish business life
Jewish merchants and tradespeople opened numerous trading establishments, shops, department stores and factories, some of which were important for the further development of the city. There were also Jewish lawyers and doctors. The two no longer existing shoe factories Emil Heimann in Cramerstraße, in the Gründerzeit district and Silberstein & Neumann Also in Spitalstraße, in place of today's Commerzbank, are a branch of the Tietz department store chain , which was expropriated in 1933 and renamed Kaufhof , with today's branch on Hunter's well. A street in the east of the harbor was named after Ludwig Silberstein .
National Socialism
Start time
For the boycott of Jews on April 1, 1933, the SA occupied the entrances of Jewish shops in Schweinfurt with posters: Whoever buys here is committing treason! Out with the Jews! The party newspaper Fränkisches Volk of September 9, 1933 writes:
- “Since the big boycott, one has missed the large imprint on cardboard, wrapping paper and hat bags in Jewish shops. [...] But we know the people who buy from Jews, because it is precisely the most neutral cloak that makes them traitors. The white and blue wrapping papers are easy to identify, especially on Saturday afternoons, and the parcels are tucked under the arm in shame. The buyers only enter the house when they have made sure by constantly looking around that they are not being watched. "
As a result of economic boycotts, increasing disenfranchisement and reprisals, some of the Jews moved or emigrated from Schweinfurt in the following years, while some from rural communities moved there. In July 1935 the city council banned all Jews from using the city baths. Despite the economic boycott, many local Jews managed to maintain their traditionally strong position in the cattle trade by 1937 . It was not until the end of 1937 that they were increasingly forced to give up their businesses. Lord Mayor Ludwig Pösl : “The Jews are to blame for the fact that they have been banned from bathing. A guest who cannot behave properly must always be prepared to be thrown out. ” As a result of the Nuremberg Laws , the first Jews were taken into protective custody in Schweinfurt on November 15, 1937 . This is followed by voluntary sales of Jewish businesses below their value, business abandonments or takeovers as a result of the Aryanization .
Reichspogromnacht
During the Reichspogromnacht on November 9, 1938, the synagogue's inventory was vandalized, but the building was not set on fire because of concern that the fire would spread to a neighboring half-timbered house. Considerable damage was done in the Jewish homes and buildings.
- “ Around 7 a.m. in the morning, the city police arrested 45 Jewish men and took them into“ protective custody ”in Hadergasse. Others are driven to the cattle yard, where fanatical and agitated Hitler Youths, hooting and jokingly, throw stones at the frightened people [...] Then they start to devastate the inside of the synagogue [...] Just the fact that the fire is on those around If half-timbered houses had spilled over, the synagogue was saved from being set on fire. The mayor of the city, Pösl, insists on directing the action personally [...] The churches in Schweinfurt have not given any statement for the oppressed Jews or have somehow publicly advocated them. However, there was also solidarity with the local Jews. Some took in Jewish neighbors who no longer had intact windows. "
Immediately before the Reichskristallnacht there was a large NSDAP rally on the market square . On the instructions of the Gauleitung , SA men in plain clothes took brutal action against the Jews in the early morning hours of November 10, 1938; in front of everyone and under police supervision, Jewish residents were dragged out of their homes and driven out of town to the applause and stone-throwing of the crowd; their apartments had since been demolished. In the synagogue courtyard people hung a noose on a tree and shouted: "Let us hang the rabbi on it!"
The Schweinfurter Tagblatt of November 11, 1938 reported:
- “As in the whole of the Reich, yesterday in Schweinfurt, too, on the occasion of the embassy councilor vom Rath, who was killed by the cowardly Jewish murderous hand, the indignant population made rallies against Judaism, and actions were carried out against Jewish property. A number of Jews had to be taken into protective custody. "
In March 1939 the Jewish community was forced to sell the synagogue and the parish hall to the city administration for a ridiculous price. The synagogue was converted into a fire department depot.
The mayor of the city reported on the events to the state police station in Würzburg:
- “The Hitler Youth was not on the way. It goes without saying that young people should join such demonstrations and cannot simply be prevented. But even these young people did not throw stones at the Jews. It is also not correct that tattered beds were lying around on the streets […] There are no looting and arson. The cash cassettes and sums of money that were openly available in the Jewish apartments, as well as valuables, were secured by the police […] The action against the Jews was approved by the majority of the population. The Lord Mayor, signed P ö sl "
Four years after the end of the war, those primarily responsible for the pogrom actions in Schweinfurt were on trial.
Parish dissolution
Between 1933 and 1941 more than 200 Jews had left Schweinfurt and moved to other German cities; In the same period, more than 200 Jewish residents of Schweinfurt emigrated. In 1942 the Jewish community was finally dissolved. Jews are crammed into a few houses (so-called Jewish houses ), for example in Rückertstrasse 17. Eyewitnesses report nightly deliveries. The synagogue was destroyed by several aerial bombs in 1943.
holocaust
In 1942, the deportations of the Jews who remained in Schweinfurt began. The destinations were Izbica near Lublin and Theresienstadt . Three Jewish people were able to survive in Schweinfurt due to their privileged mixed marriage .
Present without a Jewish community
In 1945 the property of the community center was transferred to the Jewish asset management JRSO, which later sold it to the Städtische Sparkasse . Around 1970 the Jewish parish hall south of the synagogue (on Siebenbrückleinsgasse ) was demolished for the expansion of the Sparkasse parking lot. In 1973 a memorial stone was placed at this point containing two incorrect pieces of information (see also: Reichspogromnacht and community dissolution ):
- “ Here stood the synagogue of the Israelite religious community in our city. She became a victim of the racial madness on November 9, 1938 - The dead in honor of the memory - The living in memory a. Warning. "
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Since 1991 the number of the until then very few Jews in Main Franconia has risen sharply, due to the so-called quota refugees from the former Soviet Union . In Schweinfurt, however, no new community emerged. The Jews from the Schweinfurt region therefore currently belong to the Jewish community of Würzburg and Lower Franconia , which rose from 180 to over 1,000 members due to the refugees. On November 9, 2013, on the 75th anniversary, the memorial was expanded and information steles were erected.
The Schweinfurt riots were not on November 9, but exclusively on November 10. For this purpose, the pastor, public relations officer of the Evangelical Lutheran Dean's Office in Schweinfurt and lecturer in Biblical theology at the Otto Friedrich University of Bamberg, Dr. Siegfried Bergler made a reference on the occasion of the commemoration:
- “In church commemoration of November 9 and 10, 1938, Martin Luther, who, born on November 10, 1483, wrote a number of heavily anti-Jewish writings, cannot be ignored. Among them the most famous from 1543 "Of the Jews and their lies", in which the reformer calls on the sovereigns to infect their (the Jews) synagogues or schools. "One could almost think that Hitler only had to do what Luther had asked 400 years earlier," said Bergler. "
The painting In the Synagogue by Carl Spitzweg (around 1860) was exhibited in the Georg Schäfer Museum on the 75th anniversary , but it also hit the national headlines because of looted art .
Community development
| year | Parishioners people |
Proportion of the population |
City population |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1542 | 56 | ||
| 1837 | 16 | 0.2% | 7,330 |
| 1852 | 27 | ||
| 1867 | 200 | 2.0% | 9,748 |
| 1875 | 380 | 3.4% | 11,233 |
| 1880 | 490 | 3.9% | 12,601 |
| 1890 | 352 | 2.8% | 12,472 |
| 1900 | 415 | 2.7% | 15.302 |
| 1910 | 428 | 1.9% | 22,194 |
| 1912 | 468 | 1.9% | 25,125 |
| 1924 | 414 | 1.1% | 36,336 |
| 1933 | 363 | 0.9% | 40.176 |
| 1935 | 318 | ||
| 1936 | 319 | ||
| 1937 | 308 | ||
| 1938 | 260 | ||
| 1939 | 77 | ||
| 1940 | 72 |
See also
literature
- Salomon Stein: The Israelite religious community Schweinfurt. Part I: Since its re-establishment 1864–1914 . Schweinfurt 1914.
- Salomon Stein: The Israelite religious community Schweinfurt. Part II: 1914-1930. Wuerzburg 1931.
- Karl-Werner Hoppe: Contributions to the history of the Israelitische Kultusgemeinde Schweinfurt . City Archives Schweinfurt 1986
- Willy Adler: My youth in Schweinfurt - memories of a former Jewish fellow citizen of his hometown 1904 to 1934 . Historischer Verein Schweinfurt, 1987, ISBN 9787100114806
- DGB-Bildungswerk eV Kreis Schweinfurt (ed.): Sent and lost ... 1942 - Reichspogromnacht 1938 and persecution of Jews in Schweinfurt . Schweinfurt, 1989.
Web links
- Rural Jewry in Lower Franconia: Day excursion to Jewish places in the Schweinfurt area, May 25, 2014
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t Christian communities in Schweinfurt: Chronology of the Jews in Schweinfurt. Retrieved December 18, 2018 .
- ↑ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t Evangelical Lutheran Deanery Schweinfurt: The first Jewish era: Middle Ages: 1200–1555. Retrieved December 18, 2018 .
- ↑ a b c d e f g h i j k l m From the history of the Jewish communities in the German-speaking area / Schweinfurt. Retrieved December 18, 2018 .
- ↑ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z aa ab ac ad ae af ag ah ai aj ak al am an ao ap aq ar as at au av aw ax ay az ba bb bc bd be bf bg bh bi bj bk bl Alemannia Judaica / Synagogue in Schweinfurt. Retrieved December 18, 2018 .
- ↑ a b c d e f Peter Hofmann: Schweinfurt Guide / History of Jewish Life in Schweinfurt. Retrieved December 18, 2018 .
- ↑ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Evangelical Lutheran Deanery Schweinfurt: The second Jewish era: Modern times: 1813–1942. Retrieved December 17, 2018 .
- ↑ Illustration based on: DGB-Bildungswerk eV (Ed.), "Sent and lost .... 1942". Reichspogromnacht 1938 and persecution of Jews in Schweinfurt, Schweinfurt 1989