Ruelzheim
General information: First Jewish presence: 1667; peak Jewish population: 484 in 1857 (16% of the total population); Jewish population in 1933: 172
Summary: The Jewish community of Ruelzheim, which peaked at
484 members in 1857, was then the second largest Jewish
community in the Speyer bishopric and one of the few in
the Palatinate to have a mohel.
Earlier, in 1832/33, a synagogue was built on the
Kuntzengasse; the roof was renovated in 1867, and the
building was enlarged at the end of the 19th century. Other
communal institutions included the following: a mikveh
(unknown date of construction), a regional cemetery (1826),
an elementary school (1830/31) and a library. In 1856, 100
students attended the elementary school.
In 1933, the community, with which the Jews of Kandel
were affiliated, not only employed a teacher (he instructed
14 students that year) and a chazzan, but also maintained
several Jewish associations.
On Pogrom Night, rioters destroyed the synagogue’s
interior and set the roof on fire; Torah scrolls, ritual objects,
rugs and lamps were burned in the backyard. Jewishowned
homes and businesses were wrecked and looted,
the cemetery was desecrated and Jewish men were sent to
Dachau.
Beginning in 1930, 75 Ruelzheim Jews emigrated and
88 relocated within Germany (75 in 1938/39). At least 96
Ruelzheim Jews and four from Kandel perished in the Shoah.
The synagogue building, used after the war as a storage
site and, later, as a Catholic youth center, was reopened in
1991 as a “Historical and Meeting Center.”
Author / Sources: Yehoshua Ahrens
Sources: AJ, EJL, FGW
Located in: rhineland-palatinate