Kirchberg im Hunsrueck

Summary: The Jews of Kirchberg established the following communal institutions: a synagogue—the building also housed a school and an apartment for a teacher—in 1817; a cemetery in 1850 (enlarged in 1896); and, in 1882 (13 years after the community was officially founded), a new synagogue at 15 Affengasse. Kirchberg was home to a Jewish elementary school from 1842 until 1846, after which Jewish schoolchildren studied religion with a teacher/chazzan. A Jewish women’s association was active in the community in 1933, and five schoolchildren studied religion with a teacher from Simmern that year. By 1935, however, the community could no longer function due to a lack of feepaying members. On Pogrom Night, SA men from outside Kirchberg, aided by local residents, destroyed the synagogue’s interior and burned its furniture in the market square. During the Nazi period, 19 local Jews emigrated, 46 relocated within Germany and two died in Kirchberg. The town’s last two Jews left in September 1939. At least 34 Kirchberg Jews perished in the Shoah. The Jewish cemetery was desecrated during the Nazi period. The synagogue building (it had been renovated in 1957) was pulled down in 1972 to make room for a new building.

Author / Sources: Nurit Borut
Sources: CVKH, EJL, FJG