Tauberrettersheim

Summary: In 1845, the Jewish community of Tauberrettersheim replaced its 18th-century synagogue with a new one at 6 Im Judenhof (“in the Jews’ yard”). Although local Jews maintained their own mikveh, they conducted services in Weikersheim. The community ran a school, presided over by a teacher who also served as chazzan and shochet, during the years 1834 to 1899, after which out-of-town teachers traveled to Tauberrettersheim to give lessons to Jewish children there. Although the synagogue was no longer in use in 1938 (it was closed in 1936), its interior was destroyed on Pogrom Night. Tauberrettersheim’s two remaining Jewish homes were attacked: a window was smashed in one; furniture was destroyed in the other. The village’s remaining Jews were arrested and sent to Ochsenfurt, shortly after which the synagogue was sold to the local council for use as a youth club. We also know that the mikveh was sold before the pogrom. One local Jew emigrated, five relocated within Germany and two left for unknown destinations. In March 1942, the village’s remaining Jews (two elderly women) were sent to the Jewish retirement home in Wuerzburg, from where they were deported to Izbica and Theresienstadt later that year. At least 17 Tauberrettersheim Jews perished in the Shoah. The synagogue was converted into an apartment building after the war.

Author / Sources: Heidemarie Wawrzyn
Sources: AJ, DJGB, EJL, PK-BAV, SZJLB