Weissenfels an der Saale
General information: First Jewish presence: 1350 (see below); peak Jewish population: unknown; Jewish population in 1933: 165
Summary: Although we do not know when Jews first settled in
Weissenfels, their recorded history there begins with the
Black Death persecutions of 1350. The year 1386 marked a
gathering of rabbis known as the “Weissenfelser Judenturnier”;
the rabbis were, presumably, waylaid on their way home and
held for ransom. According to a document from 1402, the
Jewish community maintained a school and a synagogue, the
latter of which was located at Klingenthore. Later, in 1453,
Jews were expelled from Weissenfels, having been accused
of forming a secret alliance with the Hussites. It was not
until the mid-18th century that another Jewish presence was
established in Weissenfels.
The modern Weissenfels Jewish community was part of
the community of Halle until 1883, when Weissenfels’ 70
Jews were recognized as an independent community with
their own synagogue and cemetery (the latter was established
inside the general burial grounds on Friedensstrasse).
In 1932-33, the leaders of the community were Julius
Lewinsohn, Siegfried Schloss and Karl Reite; community
representatives were Adolf Gutmann, Walter Gottheil and
someone named Hoffmann; Simon Rau served as rabbi,
chazzan and teacher. A local branch of the German Zionist
Organization and a cultural association were opened in
Weissenfels in mid-1933 and in 1935, respectively.
In October 1938, three local Jewish families were
deported to Poland. Later, on Pogrom Night (November
9-10, 1938), the synagogue’s interior was destroyed; several
Jews were sent to concentration camps.
Forty Jews still lived in Weissenfels in May 1939; in
1941, that number was 24, of whom four were killed, three
committed suicide and others were deported to the East. Of the 165 Jews who lived in Weissenfels in 1933, at least 66
perished in the Shoah.
In 1945, a memorial was unveiled in honor of 229 Russian
and Hungarian Jews who perished in Buchenwald and whose
ashes were buried in Weissenfels’ general cemetery; the
memorial also honors 24 murdered local Jews. Later, in 1987,
copies were made of 58 weather-beaten Jewish tombstones.
The former synagogue building, temporarily used as a
residence, was later converted into a museum called the
Simon Rau Center. Memorial stumbling blocks have been
unveiled in Weissenfels, and there are plans for more.
Author / Sources: Esther Sarah Evans
Sources: AJL, EJL, FJG, LJG, YV
www.stadt-hohenmoelsen.de/
www.uni-leipzig.de/
www.juedische-allgemeine
Sources: AJL, EJL, FJG, LJG, YV
www.stadt-hohenmoelsen.de/
www.uni-leipzig.de/
www.juedische-allgemeine
Located in: saxony-anhalt