Breisach
General information: First Jewish presence: unknown; peak Jewish population: 572 in 1839; Jewish population in 1933: 231
Summary: The history of Jewish Breisach began in the Middle Ages. As
a result of ongoing persecution and a series of expulsions,
a lasting community was not founded there until 1638.
The Jewish population peaked at 572 members
in 1839.
The community consecrated a cemetery in the
16th century. The first synagogue was destroyed by
fire in 1793, after which, in 1804, the community
built a new house of worship. Established in
Breisach in 1827, the district rabbinate was
transferred to Freiburg in 1885. During the 1830s,
local Jews built a larger synagogue (it housed a
mikveh) and consecrated a second cemetery. We
also know that the new synagogue was enlarged
between 1870 and 1875, and that, between
1835 and 1876, the community maintained a
Jewish school in a former inn. Jewish associations
included a chevra kadisha for men (founded in
1838), one for women (founded in 1832) and a
women’s association. In 1933, 231 Jews lived in Breisach. The
Jewish school reopened briefly from 1938 to
1940. The synagogue was burned down on
Pogrom Night, when 30 Breisach Jews were
arrested and transported to Dachau. Michael
Eisemann, the community’s chazzan and
Hebrew teacher, died in a Freiburg hospital
in February of the following year; he had been
sent there, severely emaciated, from Dachau.
Thirty-four local Jews were deported to
Gurs on October 22, 1940. The Jewish wife
of a Christian stayed behind, as did a mentally
ill woman who was eventually murdered at
the Grafeneck Institute as part of the Nazis’
euthanasia program. At least 68 Breisach Jews
perished in the Shoah.
A memorial stone was unveiled at the
site of the former synagogue in 1959; and
in 1998, a full-scale memorial was erected in
the town. The renovated Jewish community house is now
a memorial center.
Photo: The synagogue of Breisach, on fire, on the morning of November 10, 1938. Courtesy of: Town Archive of Breisach.
Photo 2: A non-Jewish photographer was allowed to take pictures of the Shabbat service in the synagogue of Breisach, before 1933. Courtesy of: Central Archives
Author / Sources: Esther Sarah Evans
Sources: AJ
www.juedisches-leben-in-breisach.de
www.exil-club.de/
Sources: AJ
www.juedisches-leben-in-breisach.de
www.exil-club.de/
Located in: baden-wuerttemberg