Muenchweiler
General information: First Jewish presence: 1682; peak Jewish population: 178 in 1834/35 (approximately 25% of the total population); Jewish population in 1933: 13
Summary: In 1806, the community inaugurated a synagogue on
Hauptstrasse; the synagogue, which was repainted in
1903/04 and renovated in 1910, contained 40 seats for men,
25 for women, a schoolroom and living quarters for the
rabbi. Local Jews buried their dead in Winnweiler.
In 1933, a teacher from Rockenhausen instructed three
schoolchildren in religion. A Jewish welfare association and
the Goldmann Foundation for new brides were active in the
community, with which the Jews of nearby Neuhemsbach
were affiliated.
Ten Jews lived in Muenchweiler in 1938. On Pogrom
Night, SA men took ritual objects and prayer books from
the synagogue and burned them in the street, after which,
in 1939, the community was forced to sell the synagogue
to the local council.
Six Muenchweiler Jews emigrated, two died in the village and
two, Muenchweiler’s last, were deported to Gurs on October
22, 1940. At least 17 local Jews perished in the Shoah.
French POWs were housed in the synagogue in 1944/45.
Later, in 1950, ownership of the building was transferred to
the official Jewish community of Rhineland Pfalz. Sold yet
again in 1953, this time to the municipality, the synagogue was
then converted into an office for the mayor. Records do not
tell us when the building was sold to a private buyer, but we do
know that the site was declared a cultural monument in 1993.
Author / Sources: Heidemarie Wawrzyn
Sources: FJW, SG-RPS, SMZG
www.lagrlp.de/html/judische_friedhofe_ortsnamen_m13.html
Sources: FJW, SG-RPS, SMZG
www.lagrlp.de/html/judische_friedhofe_ortsnamen_m13.html
Located in: rhineland-palatinate