Leipzig - 11 Farberstrasse, Beth Jehuda Synagogue

Summary: Louise Ariowitsch, widow of a well-known fur merchant, Julius Ariowitsch, purchased a building on Farberstrasse in 1915 and had it converted into a center for the Jewish community. Ariowitsch and her family lived in the front of the building. The rear of the building (where the mikveh was located) was renovated and used as a venue for study groups and lectures in Jewish studies. In 1921, one of the building’s rooms was enlarged for use as a synagogue. This small synagogue, known as the Ariowitsch synagogue, closed down in February 1933 as most of its congregants had moved away. That year, the front of the building was converted into a Jewish home for the elderly. Nazis desecrated and destroyed the building on Pogrom Night, November 1938, but did not burn it down. During the years 1940 to 1943, the former synagogue was used as a shelter for the homeless, after which it was taken over by the Nazis and used as a house where Jews were held before their deportation. In 1946, a group of Jewish survivors celebrated the Passover holiday in the former synagogue. Today, the building is not used for any religious purpose.
Author / Sources: Moshe Finkel
Sources: JSL
www.goldschmidtschule-leipzig.de
Located in: saxony