Heiligenstadt-Eichsfeld

Summary: Jews settled in Heiligenstadt-Eichsfeld in the early 13th century but were later expelled. The arrival of Jews in the late 1700s marked the beginning of an unbroken Jewish presence that would last until 1940. Until 1774, the poverty-stricken Jewish community conducted services in a small, overcrowded prayer room. In order to accommodate the growing Jewish population, the community, with its limited funds, purchased a building and converted it into a synagogue; inaugurated in 1872, it housed a classroom used by a teacher who also served as shochet. Although the synagogue was set on fire on Pogrom Night, the fire department quickly extinguished the blaze due to the building’s proximity to other houses. The exterior, therefore, remained intact. The building was later converted into an apartment block. A memorial plaque has been affixed to the former synagogue building; it commemorates the Jewish community that was destroyed, but does not mention the fact that the building was once a synagogue.

Author / Sources: Moshe Finkel
Sources: DJKT, EJL, LJG, SIA