Kyllburg

Summary: Jews did not settle in Kyllburg until the 19th century, for the Archbishopric of Trier, to which Kyllburg belonged, forbade Jews from settling in the area before then. In 1911, after a Catholic resident bequeathed his assets to the Jewish community, a synagogue was inaugurated in Kyllburg. Jewish burials, however, were conducted in nearby Malberg. Forty-three Jews lived in Kyllburg in 1933, the town’s peak Jewish population. A regional teacher/chazzan instructed eight Jewish schoolchildren in religion. By 1933, the Jews of Malberg and Speicher had been affiliated with the Kyllburg community. The synagogue was completely destroyed on Pogrom Night, November 1938. In all, 33 Kyllburg Jews emigrated from and six relocated within Germany. In 1942, six Kyllburg Jews and two from Malberg were deported, destined for Kovno (presentday Kaunas), Minsk, Auschwitz and Theresienstadt. At least 12 Jews originally from Kyllburg perished in the Shoah. In 1983, the Malberg municipality renovated the synagogue, which had been desecrated several times in the years 1933 to 1943; later, in 1988, a memorial plaque was unveiled at a church opposite the spot on which the synagogue once stood.

Author / Sources: Nurit Borut
Sources: DZG, EJL, LPB, YV