Biebrich

Summary: In 1823, the Jews of Mosbach were affiliated with the Jewish community of Biebrich. The community established a Talmud Torah in the early 18th century; a synagogue, at 37 Rathausstrasse, in 1829/30; and a cemetery in 1890. Local Jews employed a teacher of religion who also served as chazzan and shochet; Dr. Seligmann Baer, who held this post between 1856 and 1897, edited the Avodat Israel prayer book, which became the definitive prayer book for Central European Jewish communities. The community maintained its own mikveh, but conducted burials in Wiesbaden. Toni Sender (1888-1964), daughter of the community’s chairman and a prominent communist, was one of the first women elected to the Reichstag, where she served until 1933. That same year, 150 Jews lived in Biebrich. The synagogue’s interior was destroyed on Pogrom Night, as were Jewish homes and businesses. Most Jews managed to leave Biebrich. Those remaining were eventually deported to the East, some to Theresienstadt, via Wiesbaden, in April 1943. At least 30 local Jews perished in the Shoah. The synagogue building was destroyed during an aerial bombing in 1944. The ruins were subsequently cleared, and after the war a house and a commercial building were built on the site. In 1979, a memorial plaque was affixed to the council building.

Author / Sources: Nurit Borut
Sources: AJ, EJL, PK-HNF