Kippenheim
General information: First Jewish presence: 1654; peak Jewish population: 323 in 1871; Jewish population in 1933: 144
Summary: This community established a prayer room in or around
1750, a synagogue in 1794, a new synagogue at Poststrasse in
1852 and a school in the 1830s, the last of which was presided
over by a teacher who also served as the chazzan. Burials were
conducted in the Schmieheim community’s cemetery, with
which Kippenheim also shared a mikveh. Stef Wertheimer,
the Israeli industrialist, was born in Kippenheim in 1926.
Several Jewish associations were active in Kippenheim in
1933, and the teacher instructed 10 schoolchildren that year.The community continued to offer activities and lectures
well into the Nazi period.
On Pogrom Night, furniture and ritual objects from the
synagogue were destroyed, as were its doors and windows.
The building was set on fire, but residents extinguished the
blaze out of fear for the safety of their own houses. Eleven
Jewish men were sent to Dachau.
Ninety-three Kippenheim Jews emigrated, seven died
in Kippenheim, one committed suicide and 31, the last,
were deported to Gurs on October 22, 1940. At least 31
Kippenheim Jews perished in the Shoah.
The Jewish Restitution Successor Organization sold the
synagogue after the war. In 1981, the town of Kippenheim
acquired the building and declared it a national cultural
monument. It has been used as a memorial and social hall
since 2003.
Photo: The vandalized synagogue of Kippenheim after Pogrom Night. Men are standing with axes on the rubble; children joined in too. Courtesy of: German-Israeli Society Photo Archive, Ettenheim.
Author / Sources: Heike Zaun Goshen
Sources: AH, AJ, PK-BW, SIA
www.kippenheim.de
www.ehemalige-synagoge-kippenheim.de
Sources: AH, AJ, PK-BW, SIA
www.kippenheim.de
www.ehemalige-synagoge-kippenheim.de
Located in: baden-wuerttemberg