Prichsenstadt

Summary: From the 15th century onwards, Prichsenstadt’s Jews conducted religious services in prayer halls. A synagogue, first documented in 1835, was torn down in 1890, after which the community rented a prayer hall until 1911/12, when a new synagogue (it housed a mikveh and a classroom) was built at 2 Freihofgasse. The community buried its dead in Gerolzhofen. Five Jewish children studied religion in Prichsenstadt in 1933. In 1934, one Prichsenstadt Jew was arrested and sent to Dachau, where he later died. On Pogrom Night, the synagogue’s interior furnishings and ritual objects were burned in front of the town hall. Six Prichsenstadt Jews and a Jewish couple from Altenschoenbach were jailed in Gerlozhofen, from where two were deported to Dachau. After the pogrom, the town’s Jews were forced to sell their homes and move into one house. Remarkably, the Jewish children of Prichsenstadt, Frankenwinheim and Zeilitzheim continued to receive religious instruction. Twenty Prichsenstadt Jews emigrated and 12 relocated within Germany. In April 1942, seven were deported to Izbica (via Wuerzburg); and in September 1942, three were deported to Theresienstadt. At least 23 Prichsenstadt Jews perished in the Shoah. The synagogue building was later converted into a residential property. A memorial plaque was affixed to the wall of the town’s Christian cemetery.

Author / Sources: Magret Liat Wolf
Sources: AJ, EJL, PK BAV