Billigheim

Summary: The first available record of a Jewish family in Billigheim is dated 1510. It was not, however, until 1710, when Jews were granted residency rights, that Jewish residents were again mentioned in the town’s records. For most of the 19th century, Billigheim’s Jewish population was approximately 100, a number that dwindled to approximately 70 in the early 20th century and to less than 40 after World War I. Records from 1842 mention a synagogue that had been established “approximately 80 years ago,” allowing us to estimate that the synagogue on 170 Fuerthstrasse had been inaugurated in or around 1742 (20 years after local Jews formed a minyan). We also know that the town was home to a Jewish school and a mikveh, and that burials were conducted in in Ingenheim. Thirty-five Jews, most of whom were cattle dealers and shop owners, lived in Billigheim in 1933. Later, on Pogrom Night, when only 16 Jews lived in Billigheim, the synagogue building was set on fire; the SS and SA prevented attempts to extinguish the blaze, and the building burned to the ground. All local Jewish men were arrested on Pogrom Night. In 1942, the town’s remaining five Jews were deported to the concentration camp in Gurs, France. Fourteen Billigheim Jews perished in the Shoah, nine of them at Auschwitz. Billigheim no longer has a Jewish community. A memorial plaque commemorates the former synagogue and community.

Author / Sources: Benjamin Rosendahl
Sources: AJ, EJL, LJG, SG-RPS, YV