Flieden

Summary: Flieden’s older synagogue, located at the entrance to Hinzergasse, was inaugurated in 1617; it housed a school and a mikveh. In 1870, the community inaugurated a new synagogue (48 seats for men, 30 women) at 6 Hinzergasse. The old synagogue was demolished in 1876, after which a school whose building housed a new mikveh and a teacher’s apartment was built on the site. Between 1878 and 1931, the Jews of Flieden and Neuhof maintained an elementary school. Records from the 17th and early 18th centuries mention a cemetery, but the modern community conducted burials in Fulda until 1905, when a cemetery was consecrated in Flieden. In 1933, 60 Jews lived in Flieden. Later, on Pogrom Night, the synagogue interior was destroyed, the Torah scrolls and ritual objects burned. The building, however, survived the ensuing fire. Thirty-eight Jews immigrated (36 to the United States) and 20 relocated within Germany. By May 1938, the only remaining Jews were an elderly couple; they were deported to a death camp in 1942. At least 22 local Jews perished in the Shoah. In 1947, a memorial stone was unveiled at the cemetery. The synagogue was converted into a church in 1950/51, but a memorial has been unveiled at the older synagogue site. The school was demolished in 1970; in 1988, a memorial stone was placed there, too.

Author / Sources: Esther Sarah Evans
Sources: AJ, EJL, PK-HNF
www.fuldaerzeitung.de