Bad Neustadt an der Saale

Summary: The modern Jewish community of Bad Neustadt an der Saale was founded in the 1860s. That year, local Jews purchased a building as the venue for a community center, school and prayer hall. The community built a synagogue in 1892 (on a street then known as Bauerngasse) and opened a cemetery in 1888/1889. Two Jewish charity organizations and a women’s association were active in the town in 1933; 17 pupils attended the elementary school. In 1938, on the first day of the Jewish New Year holiday (September 26), the community leaders were ordered to clear out the synagogue immediately; the German army appropriated the building for grain storage. Thereafter the community held its prayer services in the school building. Later, in 1940, the synagogue’s metal objects were confiscated for scrap. Jewish gravestones were smashed on Pogrom Night; thirteen Jews were arrested. Seventy-four Bad Neustadt Jews emigrated, 35 relocated within Germany, eight died in the town and 55 were deported to the East in 1942. A Jew married to a Christian spouse remained in Bad Neustadt after the deportations. At least 81 local Jews perished in the Shoah. The synagogue, reopened in 1945 by Jewish displaced persons, was, during the 1950s, converted into a medical clinic and residential apartments. A memorial plaque was later unveiled at the site.

Author / Sources: Esther Sarah Evans; Sources: AJ, EJL, PK-BAV