Osthofen
General information: First Jewish presence: mid-16th century; peak Jewish population: 126 in 1885; Jewish population in 1933: 62
Summary: Jews were expelled from Osthofen in 1693, but another
Jewish presence was established there in, at the latest, 1722.
By the mid-18th century, the community, which had been
founded in cooperation with the Jews of Westhofen, had
consecrated a prayer hall and a cemetery.
In 1875, the community replaced its first synagogue
(built in 1917) with a new synagogue at 53 Hauptstrasse
(present-day 74 Friedrich-Ebert-Strasse); the synagogue was
renovated in 1929. Local Jews also maintained a mikveh and
a regional cemetery, the latter of which was consecrated in
1840 and desecrated in 1932.
Three children studied religion with a teacher/chazzan
in 1933, by which point the Jews of Rheinduerkheim,
Abenheim, Pfeddersheim and Westhofen had been affiliated
with the Osthofen community. In March of that year,
community chairman Ludwig Ebert’s paper factory was
turned into a concentration camp; it was closed in December
1934, but not before Ebert and other local Jews had been
held there under “protective custody.” Later, on Pogrom
Night (November 1938), the synagogue was destroyed, after
which the building was set on fire.
Eleven local Jews emigrated from and 48 relocated
within Germany. In January 1939, the remaining Jews left
Osthofen. At least 17 Osthofen Jews perished in the Shoah.
The synagogue ruins were demolished in the 1950s. On
November 9, 1983, a memorial plaque was unveiled at the
Protestant community center.
Photo: The synagogue of Osthofen. Courtesy of: Unknown.
Author / Sources: Esther Sarah Evans
Sources: AJ, EJL, PK-HNF
www.projektosthofen-gedenkstaette.de
Sources: AJ, EJL, PK-HNF
www.projektosthofen-gedenkstaette.de
Located in: rhineland-palatinate