Roth

Summary: On the basis of the prince-elector’s legislation on community affairs (dated December 30, 1823), the Jews of Roth, Fronhausen and Lohra were able to form a synagogue community in Roth. In 1861, the combined Jewish population of the three towns was 101. Fronhausen and Lohra left the synagogue community in 1880. In 1832, after the synagogue in Roth burned down, the community built a new house of worship. Records from 1883 tell us that the new synagogue had its own seal— intertwined twigs—and two Torah scrolls. The synagogue was renovated on several occasions: in 1916, for example, the annex was rebuilt. The community also maintained a cemetery, a mikveh (located in the synagogue’s annex) and a school for religious studies, the last of which was often periodically shut down for lack of qualified teachers; after 1882, Jewish children attended the town’s public school. At the Jewish cemetery, the oldest gravestone is dated 1816; Jewish burials were conducted in Marburg from 1939 onwards. From early 1936 until July 1938, the Jewish population dropped from 29 to 13. On November 8, 1938 (one day before Pogrom Night) the synagogue’s windows, interior and Judaica were destroyed. Later, on February 9, 1939, the synagogue was forcibly sold to a cabinet maker and a farmer, after which the site was used for storing lumber. The cemetery was closed in 1940; in 1941, a section of the burial ground was sold to neighboring residents, and in December 1942, a representative of the Jewish community in Frankfurt sold another section to residents of Roth. Seven Roth Jews immigrated to the United States or South Africa. Nineteen Neustadt Jews were brought to Roth in the spring of 1941, so that the Jewish population for October 28, 1941 was 28. Nine local Jews were deported to Theresienstadt in 1941 and on September 9, 1942—all nine perished there. At least 29 Roth Jews were murdered in in the Shoah. At the initiative of an American soldier, the cemetery was restored by 1949; a memorial plaque was later unveiled there. Memorial stones were also erected in honor of the Stern and Hoechster families. Roth’s synagogue, which was restored in 1990 and opened to the public in August 2008, bears a commemorative plaque.

Author / Sources: Esther Sarah Evans
Sources: AJ, PK-HNF, YV
archiv.ub.uni-marburg.de/
www.landsynagoge.de/