Kitzingen

Summary: The first available record of a Jewish presence in Kitzingen is dated 1147. Rabbis officiated there during the Middle Ages, and a synagogue was documented in the 16th century. Kitzingen Jews, often persecuted in pogroms, were expelled from the town in 1789, and it was not until 1863 that a new Jewish presence was established there. In 1865, these Jews founded a community; and in 1871, Kitzingen became the seat of a district rabbinate. Jews conducted services in prayer halls until 1833, when a synagogue was dedicated on Landwehrstrasse. The modern community renovated its mikveh and synagogue in 1901 and again in 1908, and we also know that it established a Jewish elementary school in 1914. Burials were conducted in Roedelsee. In 1933, 360 Jews lived in Kitzingen; Dr. Joseph Wohlgemuth was rabbi. Twenty-four pupils attended the elementary school, 62 children studied religion and several Jewish associations and branches of nation-wide Jewish organizations were active in the town. The community’s teacher also performed the duties of chazzan; the shochet was the synagogue caretaker. On Pogrom Night, rioters destroyed the synagogue’s interior and partly burned the building, after which the Torah scrolls were set on fire; Jewish homes and businesses were vandalized and plundered by hammer-wielding rioters. All Jewish men were arrested: the sick and disabled were released, but the others were imprisoned in Wuerzburg. Of these, several were released (one died of a heart attack upon seeing his destroyed house and wine shop), and 23 were deported to Dachau. During the Nazi period, 192 Kitzingen Jews emigrated and 111 relocated within Germany. In 1942, the remaining Jews were forced to move into one building: 99 were deported to Izbica and to Theresienstadt (the deportations began in April 1942). At least 157 Kitzingen Jews perished in the Shoah. In 1966, a commemorative plaque was unveiled at the synagogue site; and in 1993, the renovated building reopened as a cultural center.

Author / Sources: Magret Liat Wolf
Sources: AJ, PK BAV
www.kitzingen.info/stadt/altesynagoge/
www.bauforschung-wieser.de/KITZINGEN-SYNAGOGE.pdf