Rhoden-Wrexen

Summary: The small neighboring villages of Rhoden and Wrexen established a joint Jewish community on an unspecified date. In the late 1800s, the community built a synagogue, established a school for religious studies, consecrated a cemetery and employed a teacher who also served as cantor and shochet. The efficiency with which the Jewish community functioned was still evident in 1933, when the entire membership of the Rhoden’s branch of the Reich Federation of Jewish Front Soldiers participated in the funeral of Josef Stern, who had been president of the Jewish community. However, the political climate deteriorated soon afterwards, and in 1935, as a result of emigration, the community began to dwindle. On Pogrom Night, Nazi troops broke into Jewish homes and assaulted the residents. The synagogue, which had been ravaged and set on fire, was no more than a pile of rubble by the following morning. Rhoden-Wrexen’s remaining Jews were deported to the camps in 1942. As of this writing, a memorial plaque has never been erected in Rhoden-Wrexen.

Author / Sources: Moshe Finkel
Sources: AJ, DJGH, SIA