Kleineicholzheim
General information: First Jewish presence: 18th century; peak Jewish population: 107 in 1864; Jewish population in 1933: 28
Summary: The Jewish community of Kleineicholzheim developed in the
18th century and peaked at 107 members (just over a third of
the total population) in 1864. Services were conducted in a
rented hall until 1845, when the community inaugurated a
synagogue in a section of a local castle. The synagogue housed
a classroom and an apartment for a teacher, and we also know
that one of the castle’s fountains was converted into a mikveh.
Burials were conducted in Boedigheim.
In 1933, 28 Jews lived in Kleineicholzheim; two children
studied religion with a teacher from Grosseicholzheim. Two
Jews moved to Kleineicholzheim after 1933, and a baby was
born there.
On Pogrom Night, non-local SA men destroyed the
synagogue’s interior. Jewish homes and properties were also
damaged, and the two remaining Jewish men were sent to
Dachau.
Fourteen Kleineicholzheim Jews immigrated to the
United States, two died in Kleineicholzheim and 15, the
last, were deported to Gurs in October 1940. At least 12
local Jews perished in the Shoah.
The synagogue building housed German refugees after the
war, not long after which, during the 1950s, it was converted
into an apartment building. A memorial plaque has been
unveiled outside city hall, opposite the former synagogue
site.
Author / Sources: Heike Zaun Goshen
Sources: AH, AJ
Sources: AH, AJ
Located in: baden-wuerttemberg