Baiertal

Summary: The Jews of Baiertal established a prayer room on or about 1740. Although local Jews received permission to build a synagogue in 1804 (completed in 1833), the community was placed under the jurisdiction of the Heidelberg rabbinate in 1817. Baiertal was home to a Jewish school between 1839 and 1868; in 1864, it was moved to a classroom in the synagogue. We also know that burials were conducted in Wiesloch. Baiertal’s Jewish population dwindled with the passage of time, but the community of the mid-1920s was still able to employ (for the benefit of the two remaining pupils) a teacher who commuted daily from Wiesloch. In 1933, 25 Jews lived in Baiertal. They maintained three charity associations, a chevra kadisha, a women’s association and a Gemilus Chassadim Society. Although the community had been dissolved in 1937, it was still targeted on Pogrom Night, when rioters set the synagogue’s contents on fire and looted Jewish-owned homes and stores. The synagogue was later demolished. Between 1936 and 1940, four local Jews emigrated, five relocated within Germany and three died in Baiertal. Thirteen Jews, Baiertal’s last, were deported to the Gurs concentration camp on October 22, 1940. At least 20 local Jews perished in the Shoah. After the war, a pillar from the synagogue was unveiled at the site, as was a plaque. Maren Cohen Sources: AJ, EJL, PK-BW, SG-BW

Author / Sources: Maren Cohen; Sources: AJ, EJL, PK-BW, SG-BW