Urspringen
General information: First Jewish presence: 16th century; peak Jewish population: 213 in 1837 (20.7% of the total population); Jewish population in 1933: 78
Summary: Urspringen was home to a synagogue, located on the
Judengasse (“Jews’ alley”), by 1702. The community
established a new synagogue there in 1803 (it was renovated
in 1860 and again in 1932) and a mikveh in 1826. Burials
were conducted in Laudenbach.
In 1918, the Jewish elementary school limited its
curriculum to religious studies. The community’s teacher
also performed the duties of shochet and chazzan: Simon
Kissinger took up this post in 1878 and held it for more
than 50 years.
Twelve Jewish children studied religion in Urspringen
in 1933. Several Jewish associations were active in the
community that year.
On Pogrom Night, the synagogue’s interior and Torah
scrolls was destroyed. Jewish homes were vandalized and
looted, even one in which a deceased Jewish woman lay
awaiting burial. Nearly all Jewish males were arrested and
imprisoned in Lohr, from where several were later deported
to Dachau. After the pogrom, Urspringen’s remaining Jews
moved into smaller houses; their homes, property, and the
mikveh were confiscated.
Six Urspringen Jews emigrated and 21 relocated within
Germany. In April 1942, 42 local Jews were deported, via
Wuerzburg, to Izbica. Later that year, the remaining four
Jews were deported to the East. At least 74 Urspringen Jews
perished in the Shoah.
The synagogue, renovated during the years 1989 to 1991,
now houses a memorial, a cultural center and a museum of
regional Jewish history. The mikveh has also been restored.
Author / Sources: Heike Zaun Goshen
Sources: AH, AJ, EJL, PK BAV
www.marktheidenfeld.de
Sources: AH, AJ, EJL, PK BAV
www.marktheidenfeld.de
Located in: bavaria