Sandhausen
General information: First Jewish presence: 1743; peak Jewish population: 104 in 1871; Jewish population in 1933: 18
Summary: The modern Jewish community of Sandhausen developed
in the 19th century. Jews conducted services in Leimen and
Wiesloch until 1840, when the community purchased a
house on Bahnhofstrasse and converted it into a prayer hall and schoolroom. After 1867, when an old church at
115 Hauptstrasse was converted into a synagogue, the prayer
hall was used as living quarters for the community’s teachers.
In Sandhausen, teachers also served as cantors and ritual
slaughterers. The community maintained its own mikveh,
but used the Wiesloch cemetery.
By 1938, it had become nearly impossible to gather ten
men for a minyan; accordingly, the synagogue was sold to
the town council in October 1938. One month later, on
Pogrom Night, rioters destroyed the synagogue’s interior
and ransacked Jewish homes; the three remaining Jewish
men were sent to Dachau.
Four local Jews immigrated to the United States, five
relocated within Germany, two passed away in Sandhausen
and seven, the last, were deported to Gurs on October 22,
1940. At least 15 Sandhausen Jews perished in the Shoah.
The schoolhouse on Bahnhofstrasse was demolished
in 1945. In 1962, after a series of renovations, the former
synagogue was re-opened as a cultural center; a memorial
stone was placed there in 1961.
Author / Sources: Nurit Borut
Sources: AJ, EJL, PK BW
Sources: AJ, EJL, PK BW
Located in: baden-wuerttemberg