Steinbach am Donnersberg

Summary: The following Jewish population figures are available for Steinbach: 11 in 1780, 112 in 1828 (peak population) and seven in 1940. The community’s Jewish school, opened in the late 1820s, was presided over by a teacher who also performed the duties of chazzan and shochet. Steinbach Jews established several other communal institutions: a cemetery in 1780 (located in the middle of town); a synagogue in 1806 (built on the second floor of a half-timbered house on Kirchgasse); and, finally, a mikveh. By the turn of the century, only six Jews lived in Steinbach. The town’s few remaining Jews were persecuted during the Nazi period, and Jewish-owned businesses were boycotted. On November 10, 1938, SA men ransacked the synagogue, threw out the ritual objects and burned them down, broke into and plundered Jewish homes, destroyed the cemetery and took Jewish men into “protective custody.” The synagogue building—POWs were housed there during the war—was torn down in the 1950s.

Author / Sources: Fred Gottlieb
Sources: AJ, LJG, SG-RPS