Struempfelbrunn

Summary: The Jewish community of Struempfelbrunn initially conducted services in a prayer hall on Kirchenstrasse. In 1831, a synagogue was established on the upper floor of the same house; the ground floor was converted into a teacher’s apartment (the community’s teachers also served as cantors and ritual slaughterers). The community maintained a mikveh, but that was sold and demolished in 1937. Local Jews buried their dead in Hirschhorn and in Boedigheim. By 1933, only 19 Jews lived in Struempfelbrunn. The community suffered severe damage on Pogrom Night: members of the SA and local residents demolished the synagogue’s interior, burned its ritual objects and Torah scrolls (after forcing two Jews to carry the items outside), and then marched through town blowing the shofar in celebration of their crimes. The owner of the Jewish inn was assaulted, and his establishment was set on fire. Jewish men were sent to Dachau that night. Six local Jews emigrated, one died in the town, others relocated within Germany and eight, the last, were deported to Gurs on October 22, 1940. At least 22 Struempfelbrunn Jews perished in the Shoah. The synagogue site, which was sold to a local resident on Pogrom Night and subsequently dismantled, is now a garden. As of this writing, there are no memorial plaques or monuments to the former Jewish community in Struempfelbrunn.

Author / Sources: Heike Zaun Goshen
Sources: AH, AJ, EJL, PK BW