Gruensfeld
General information: First Jewish presence: 1218; peak Jewish population: 63 in 1871; Jewish population in 1933: 29
Summary:
An early Jewish settlement was destroyed in Gruensfeld
during the Rindfleisch massacres of 1298. Jews were forbidden
from living in the town between 1576 and 1640, and it was
not until the 18th century that the foundations of the modern
Jewish community were established.
The 16th-century community conducted services in
a prayer hall (first documented in 1502). Gruensfeld’s
synagogue, built in 1751, was not owned by the community
but, rather, by three Jewish families; renovated in 1928, it
burned down in 1931. The community was unable to raise
funds for a new building, and services were thereafter held in
a private residence. We also know that local Jews maintained
a mikveh.
In 1933, 29 Jews lived in Gruensfeld. One schoolchild
received religious instruction from Tauberbischofsheim’s
Jewish teacher.
Eleven local Jews emigrated, seven relocated within
Germany, four died in Gruensfeld and one committed
suicide. Although the community was disbanded in July
1938, the prayer hall was nevertheless broken into on Pogrom
Night, when the ritual objects were destroyed. The last seven
Jews, including a nine-year-old child, were deported to Gurs
on October 22, 1940. At least 12 Gruensfeld Jews perished
in the Shoah.
Author / Sources: Yaakov Borut
Sources: AJ, EJL, PK-BW
Sources: AJ, EJL, PK-BW
Located in: baden-wuerttemberg