Goldbach

Summary: By 1715, Goldbach was home to a Jewish community. Hoesbach and Goldbach merged at some point during the 19th century, forming the Jewish community of Goldbach- Hoesbach. In 1818, a synagogue—it also served the Jews of Hoesbach—was inaugurated at 4-6 Sachsenhausen. The community employed a teacher of religion who also served as shochet and chazzan: Herz Gruenebaum held this post from 1859 until 1907. Beginning in the mid-1920s, a teacher from Aschaffenburg instructed Goldbach’s Jewish schoolchildren. Burials were conducted in Schweinheim, but the community was able to maintain its own mikveh. In 1933, 38 Jews lived in Goldbach and 15 in Hoesbach. Three schoolchildren studied religion, and a chevra kadisha and a charitable organization were active in the community. On Pogrom Night, the synagogue’s interior and the mikveh were wrecked. Windows in Jewish homes were broken, property was stolen and five Jews were deported to Dachau. Seven Goldbach Jews emigrated and 14 relocated within Germany. In April 1942, 21 were deported to Izbica (via Wuerzburg); six were deported to Theresienstadt in September 1942. At least 42 Goldbach Jews and 23 from Hoesbach perished in the Shoah. The synagogue site, which had been sold to a Goldbach resident after the pogrom, now accommodates residential buildings. In 1987, a memorial plaque was erected opposite the site.

Author / Sources: Heike Zaun Goshen
Sources: AH, AJ, EJL, PK BAV