Rieneck
General information: First Jewish presence: Middle Ages; peak Jewish population: 96 in 1837; Jewish population in 1933: 19
Summary: The earliest record of Jewish Rieneck refers to the anti-
Jewish Rindfleisch massacres of 1298. Although Jews were
expelled from the town in 1618, a new Jewish presence was
re-established there in 1669.
We know that a synagogue had been established in
Rieneck by the end of the 17th century, because its Torah
Ark bore an inscription dated 1748. In 1790, a Talmud Torah
school for boys was active in the town. The synagogue was
renovated in 1872, and a separate school building—it housed
the mikveh—was built in 1873. The community buried its
dead in Altengronau (in the region of Hesse).
In 1933, a teacher from Adelsberg instructed several
Jewish schoolchildren. As a prelude to Pogrom Night, the
synagogue was broken into and desecrated on June 30, 1937,
when six Torah scrolls were removed from the Torah Ark and
thrown on the floor.
On Pogrom Night, the synagogue was destroyed along
with its furniture, ritual items and other contents; Jewish
homes were heavily damaged that night.
Four Rieneck Jews emigrated and two relocated within
Germany. The 13 who remained after the pogrom were
forced to sell their homes in February 1939; by March 10,
1939, all had moved to Frankfurt am Main. At least seven
Rieneck Jews perished in the Shoah.
A memorial plaque was later unveiled in Rieneck.
Author / Sources: Yaakov Borut
Sources: AH, AJ, EJL, PK BAV
Sources: AH, AJ, EJL, PK BAV
Located in: bavaria