Muenstermaifeld

Summary: Jews were persecuted in Muenstermaifeld in 1287, 1337 and 1348/49. Although individual Jews settled there throughout the ensuing centuries—records from 1409 mention a synagogue and a Jewish school—it was only during the 19th century that the community experienced real growth. In 1868, a regional Jewish cemetery was consecrated on a plot of land belonging to the nearby village of Mertloch. The modern community inaugurated a synagogue and hired a teacher of religious studies in 1887 and 1901, respectively. Four schoolchildren received religious instruction in 1933; later, in 1936, five children studied under the guidance of a local Jewish woman. A charity association and a minyan association were active in the community in 1933. The synagogue was burned down on Pogrom Night. The aforementioned charitable society, which was jointly run by the Jews of Muenstermaifeld and those in nearby Polch, was still active in 1940. By 1941, however, most Muenstermaifeld Jews had left. Three local Jews died in Dachau, two died in Muenstermaifeld in 1941/42 and 15 were deported to the East in 1942 (seven of them on July 27 of that year). At least 25 Muenstermaifeld Jews perished in the Shoah.

Author / Sources: Nurit Borut
Source: DZG, EJL, FJW