Heidenheim
General information: First Jewish presence: late 17th century (possibly early 18th century); peak Jewish population: 130 in 1837 and 1867; Jewish population in 1933: 31
Summary:
Wolf Benjamin ben Samson Heidenheim (born in 1757),
the renowned liturgical scholar and grammarian, was a native
of Heidenheim.
In 1852/53, one year after Heidenheim’s old synagogue
burned down, the town’s Jewish community established a
new synagogue (60 seats for men, 40 for women) at the
same address—7 Hechinger Strasse. Although local Jews
were able to maintain an elementary school and a mikveh,
they conducted burials in Bechhofen. The community’s last
schoolteacher left in 1923, and the school was closed down,
after which the few remaining Jewish schoolchildren studied
with a teacher from Cronheim. Only four pupils studied
religion in Heidenheim in 1933.
In 1936, two Jews, one of whom was the schoolteacher
from Cronheim, were arrested for wanting to slaughter
poultry. (Jewish ritual slaughter had been forbidden by the
Nazis.)
On Pogrom Night, rioters burned down the synagogue.
The school’s furniture and equipment were destroyed, as
was the mikveh.
During the Nazi period, eight Heidenheim Jews
emigrated and 22 relocated within Germany. Heidenheim’s
remaining Jews left in December 1938. At least 20 local Jews
perished in the Shoah.
The synagogue building—the outer walls survived the
pogrom—was demolished in 1980. A memorial stone and
a plaque were unveiled at the site in November 1988.
Author / Sources: Esther Sarah Evans
Sources: AJ, EJL, PK BAV
Sources: AJ, EJL, PK BAV
Located in: bavaria