Michelbach

Summary: The Jews of this town helped turn Michelbach into a regional economic center. The Gundelfinger family, members of which founded the local riders’ club, established steel plants in Ulm and Nuremberg. Religious services were conducted in rented prayer halls until 1757, when the community built a synagogue on Judengasse (“Jew’s alley”). Although the community founded a school in the 1830s, whose teacher also served as shochet and chazzan, it was closed after World War I. We also know that local Jews maintained a mikveh and a cemetery, the latter of which was consecrated at Judenwasen in 1840. In 1933, by which point the Jews of Wiesenbach had been affiliated with the community, only two children studied religion with a teacher from Crailsheim. Later, on Pogrom Night (November 1938), rioters vandalized the synagogue. The community was disbanded in July 1939. According to records, the synagogue building was used as an ammunition depot during the war. Thirteen local Jews emigrated, three died in Michelbach, an unspecified number relocated within Germany and 18 were deported to Riga (December 1941) and to Theresienstadt (August 1942). At least 16 Michelbach Jews perished during the Shoah. The former synagogue building, restored in 1984, houses a plaque. Today, it serves as a memorial to and a museum of Jewish Franconia.

Author / Sources: Heike Zaun Goshen
Sources: AH, AJ, EJL, HU, PK-BW