Steinbach

Summary: Jews may have lived in Steinbach as early as the 15th century, but the first record of their presence there is dated 1621. Initially, the Jews of Schwaebisch Hall were members of the Steinbach community. By 1702, local Jews were conducting services in a prayer room. The community’s synagogue, opened in 1809 at 29 Neustetter Strasse, was also attended by the Jews of Schwaebisch Hall, as was the elementary school (which functioned from 1829 until 1869). In 1894, after a prayer hall was opened in Schwaebisch Hall, the two communities decided to alternate services between their respective houses of worship. The cemetery at Steinbacher Strasse was consecrated in 1809. Only two Jews lived in Steinbach in 1924. Years later, on Pogrom Night, the synagogue was burned to the ground. The outer walls, however, withstood the blaze, and the site was sold to the municipality in 1939. In 1941, Steinbach’s only remaining Jew, a woman, was deported to Riga. At least seven Steinbach Jews perished in the Shoah. The cemetery, desecrated in 1938, was later destroyed. The municipality sold the former synagogue in 1940, after which a residential house was built on the site. A commemorative plaque was unveiled there, and a memorial was also built at the cemetery. The latter was desecrated in 1992.

Author / Sources: Esther Sarah Evans
Sources: AJ, PK BW
www.schwaebischhall.de