Gilserberg

Summary: The Jews of Gilserberg conducted services in a prayer room (located in a private house) until 1898, when the community inaugurated a synagogue at 40 Dorfstrasse (present-day 13 Bahnhofstrasse); the synagogue, built inside a new community center whose building housed a schoolroom, a teacher’s apartment and a mikveh, seated 40 men and 40 women. Gilserberg’s Jewish elementary school—it was officially recognized in 1841—was presided over by a teacher who also performed the duties of chazzan and shochet. Burials took place in Gemuenden/Wohra until 1924, when the community consecrated its own cemetery. The school was closed in 1922. By 1933, only 37 Jews lived in Gilserberg. On Pogrom Night, a group of SA from Oberbeisheim vandalized and plundered the synagogue’s interior. Neighboring residents, however, prevented them from setting fire to the building. The Torah scrolls and ritual objects, which had been sent to Kassel for safekeeping, were destroyed there. The fire department later appropriated the building. Fifteen Jews emigrated and 22 relocated within Germany, mostly to Frankfurt or Marburg. By the end of 1939, no Jews lived in Gilserberg. At least 10 local Jews perished in the Shoah. The synagogue building, used after 1945 as a kindergarten, was sold in 1951 and converted into a residential house.

Author / Sources: Esther Sarah Evans
Sources: AJ, EJL, PK-HNF