Diersburg

General information: First Jewish presence: 17th century; peak Jewish population: 306 in 1832; Jewish population in 1933: 26
Summary: This Jewish community, which traced its origins to the second half of the 18th century, maintained the following institutions: a cemetery (consecrated in 1773), an elementary school (1830-1876) and a synagogue, the last of which was, apparently, inaugurated in 1801. We also know that the synagogue housed a school and a mikveh. During the late 1920s, by which point it had become difficult to gather 10 men for a minyan, Jews were brought in from Friesenheim. In 1933, a teacher/chazzan instructed four children in religion. All Jewish-owned businesses had been closed or sold by 1938, after which many local Jews worked as agricultural laborers. On Pogrom Night, SA men destroyed the synagogue’s interior and burned the ritual objects and Torah scrolls; all Jewish men were sent to Dachau. In 1939, the community was ordered to demolish the synagogue at its own expense; the remaining Jews were unable to do so, and the synagogue was sold to a private buyer. Nine Diersburg Jews emigrated, five relocated within Germany and 11 were deported to Gurs on October 22, 1940; one woman, too sick to be included in the deportation, died in the Offenburg hospital. At least 31 Diersburg Jews perished in the Shoah. The synagogue building, which was renovated in 1956 after the roof collapsed, now accommodates a carpenter’s shop. The mikveh building was demolished on or around 1985.
Author / Sources: Yaakov Borut
Sources: AJ, EJL, PK-BW
Located in: baden-wuerttemberg