Kroeffelbach

Summary: The population figures for Kroeffelbach include the Jews of neighboring Brandobendorf, where Jewish settlement commenced at about the same time. Most Kroeffelbach Jews were cattle and produce dealers, and met for prayer services, as documented in 1856, in a rented room in one of the village’s houses. The house owner, however, eventually needed the property for himself, and the Jews, under threat of eviction, secured permission and, subsequently, funding to build a purpose-built synagogue in 1895 (with seats for 28 men and 16 women). Provisions were also made for religious instruction and a mikveh. In 1933 and again in August 1935, the synagogue was broken into and damaged. On Pogrom Night, a group of Nazis from outside the village vandalized the synagogue’s interior, set it on fire and destroyed the ruins. The few remaining Jews were then forcibly moved into one house; most had left before the transportations to the East began, but many Kroeffelbach Jews were deported from other places in Germany. In 1883, the local church unveiled a plaque in memory of the former synagogue and Jewish community.

Author / Sources: Harold Slutzkin
Sources: AJ, DJGH