Kleinsteinach
General information: First Jewish presence: unknown; peak Jewish population: 159 in 1841 (41.3% of the total population); Jewish population in 1933: 33
Summary: Kleinsteinach was home to a Jewish cemetery as early as
1453. The community built a synagogue in 1736 (renovated
in 1903), and employed a teacher who also performed the
duties of chazzan and shochet.
In 1933, a chevra kadisha, a Bikur Cholim society for visiting
the sick, a religious association and a charitable society (called the
Chevra Maariv-Bisman) were active in Kleinsteinach. From 1934
onwards, the Jewish communities of Kleinsteinach, Aidhausen
and Hofheim jointly employed a teacher of religion.
On Pogrom Night, rioters ransacked Jewish homes and
destroyed the synagogue’s interior—breaking windows, burning
Torah scrolls and ritual objects, and smashing to pieces a
memorial plaque for Jewish soldiers who had died in World
War I. Forewarned of what was to come, the village’s Jewish men
managed to escape before the pogrom; the remaining women
and one child were detained in the police station.
In the years 1936 to 1940, 15 Kleinsteinach Jews emigrated
and four relocated within Germany. In April 1942, four local
Jews were deported to Izbica (via Wuerzburg); and in June
1942, the remaining five were sent to Schweinfurt, from
where they were deported to Theresienstadt in September
1942. At least 40 Kleinsteinach Jews perished in the Shoah.
The synagogue building was demolished in the 1950s. A
memorial plaque has been unveiled near the site.
Photo: View of the Torah Ark in the synagogue of Kleinsteinach in 1927. Courtesy of: The Central Archives for the History of the Jewish People, the Harburger Collection, P160/416.
Author / Sources: Nurit Borut
Sources: AJ, EJL, PK BAV
Sources: AJ, EJL, PK BAV
Located in: bavaria