Schifferstadt
General information: First Jewish presence: 18th (possibly 17th) century; peak Jewish population: 60 in 1890; Jewish population in 1933: 35
Summary: The Jewish community of Schifferstadt, officially founded in
1856, attended the synagogues in Speyer and Boehl during
the early 19th century. Local Jews established a prayer hall
in 1826 and a synagogue on Neue Sandgasse (present-day
Hauptstrasse) in 1852, the latter of which accommodated
32 worshipers (20 men and 12 women, using different
entrances), a mikveh, a school and an apartment for a teacher
who also served as chazzan and shochet.
The synagogue building had fallen into a dilapidated
state by 1888 and, in 1890, soon after it was damaged in a
fire, the structure was demolished. Services were conducted
at a local dance hall until the inauguration, in 1892, of a
new synagogue at 48 Bahnhofstrasse. It was not until 1907, however, that the Jews of Schifferstadt consecrated their own
cemetery on Portheide, prior to which the community had
used the cemetery in Otterstadt.
Many Jews left Schifferstadt after 1933. Later, on Pogrom
Night (November 1938), SA men desecrated the cemetery
and burned down the defunct synagogue. The remaining
Jews were forced to sell the synagogue site to the municipality
in 1939.
Eighteen local Jews managed to emigrate, but most of the
others relocated within Germany. Three Jews remained in
Schifferstadt in October of 1940, all of whom were deported
to Gurs, France. At least 17 Schifferstadt Jews perished in
the Shoah.
Returned to the community after the war, the synagogue
site was sold to a private buyer in 1951. A commemorative
plaque was erected on a neighboring plot of land in 1984.
Author / Sources: Heike Zaun Goshen
Sources: AH, AJ, EJL
Sources: AH, AJ, EJL
Located in: rhineland-palatinate