Schopfloch
General information: First Jewish presence: in approximately 1400; peak Jewish population: 393 in 1867 (22% of the total population); Jewish population in 1933: 37
Summary: From 1612 onwards, Schopfloch’s Jewish cemetery served
many neighboring communities. The Jews of Schopfloch
established a synagogue in 1679 and enlarged it in 1712
and again in 1715. Rabbis served the community during the
17th, 18th and 19th centuries, and the village was home to a
regional rabbinate during the years 1841 to 1872.
In 1877, a new synagogue was built on the Judengasse, or
“Jews’ alley” (later renamed Bahnhofstrasse). Schopfloch’s Jews
were affiliated with the community in Dinkelsbuehl in 1925.
Nine Jewish schoolchildren studied religion in Schopfloch
in 1933. The community ran several Jewish associations
that year, including a branch of the Central Association of
German Citizens of Jewish Faith.
In 1938, in the wake of virulent anti-Jewish incitement,
Schopfloch’s mayor advised the Jews to leave. All of them
did so within months, and the synagogue was eventually sold
(its ritual objects were transferred to Munich). Schopfloch’s
last Jews left in October 1938.
Although the synagogue was set on fire on Pogrom Night,
the blaze was extinguished by the fire brigade. The building’s
interior was completely destroyed, as were the ritual objects
in Munich.
Three Schopfloch Jews emigrated; the others relocated
within Germany. Forty-eight perished in the Shoah.
The synagogue building was demolished in 1939. Three
commemorative plaques were unveiled in Schopfloch in
1988: one at the cemetery, one at the former Jewish school
on Bahnhofstrasse, and one at the former synagogue site.
Author / Sources: Dorothea Shefer-Vanson
Sources: AJ, EJL, PK BAV
Sources: AJ, EJL, PK BAV
Located in: bavaria