Pappenheim
General information: First Jewish presence: 1314; peak Jewish population: 259 in 1832 (12.4% of the total population); Jewish population in 1933: 7
Summary: Pappenheim was home to a Jewish cemetery during the early
Middle Ages; another cemetery was established there in
1579. In 1811, the Jewish community built a new synagogue
and mikveh at 27 Karl Graf Strasse (renovated in 1842).
The Jewish elementary school at 19 Deisinger Strasse
closed in 1890, after which the community employed a
teacher of religion who also served as chazzan and shochet.
After the community’s institutions ceased functioning in
1930, the remaining Jews attended services in Treuchtlingen,
to which the defunct Pappenheim community was affiliated
in 1935. By June 1936, no Jews lived in Pappenheim. The
synagogue was sold to the municipality in 1937, and its ritual
objects were transferred to Treuchtlingen (where they were
destroyed on Pogrom Night).
Although the synagogue was no longer in Jewish hands
on Pogrom Night, it was nevertheless vandalized, as was the
Jewish cemetery. A road was later built in the cemetery, and
another part of the burial ground was cleared and converted
into a barracks. In 1950, the cemetery was restored.
At least 28 Pappenheim Jews perished in the Shoah.
The former synagogue was converted into a fire station
in 1954, and the school building was demolished in 1980.
Two memorial plaques have been unveiled in Pappenheim:
one at the cemetery, the other at the
former synagogue’s site.
Photo: The synagogue of Pappenheim in 1927. Courtesy of: The Central Archives for the History of the Jewish People, the Harburger Collection, Art. No. P160/19.
Photo 2: View of the Torah Ark in the synagogue of Pappenheim in 1927. Courtesy of: The Central Archives for the History of the Jew. Peop., the Harburger Col.
Author / Sources: Heike Zaun Goshen
Sources: AH, AJ, EJL, PK BAV
Sources: AH, AJ, EJL, PK BAV
Located in: bavaria