Burghaun

General information: First Jewish presence: 1509; peak Jewish population: 176 in 1885; Jewish population in 1933: 112
Summary: The Jewish cemetery in Burghaun, consecrated in or around 1600, served neighboring Jewish communities and was one of the largest and oldest Jewish cemeteries in Hesse. In 1910, the community replaced its old synagogue with a new synagogue at 12 Ringstrasse (98 seats for men and 52 for women). Local Jews also maintained a mikveh and an elementary school, the latter of which (1867-1933) was presided over by teachers who served as ritual slaughterers and cantors. In 1933, 12 children studied at the school. A Jewish women’s association, a charitable society and two youth groups were active in the village. Between 1937 and 1939, Jewish children attended the regional school in Huenfeld. On Pogrom Night, the windows of Jewish homes were smashed; several were looted. The synagogue’s interior was destroyed, the school and mikveh were damaged and most Jewish men were deported to Buchenwald. Seventeen Burghaun Jews were deported to Riga, via Kassel, in December 1941. In September 1942, the village’s last two Jewish families were deported to Theresienstadt. At least 80 Burghaun Jews perished in the Shoah. A memorial stone was placed in the cemetery in 1968; in 1994, a commemorative plaque was unveiled in a public area called the Schlosshof.
Photo: A postcard, assumed to be from the 1920s, showing the synagogue of Burghaun. Courtesy of: the Elisabeth Sternberg-Siebert Collection.
Author / Sources: Heike Zaun Goshen
Sources: AJ, EJL, PK-BAV, SG-B
Located in: hesse