Walsdorf

General information: First Jewish presence: 16th century; peak Jewish population: 155 in 1811/12 (20.9% of the total population); Jewish population in 1933: 23
Summary: The Jewish community of Walsdorf established the following communal institutions: a cemetery in the 16th century; a synagogue in 1732 (renovated in 1862, in 1903 and again in 1930); and a mikveh and a community center, on Schafberg, in 1802. In 1859, as the village’s Jewish population started to dwindle, the community center was sold. Walsdorf’s Jews were affiliated with the Trabelsdorf community in 1907. Between the years 1826 to 1869, Walsdorf ’s Jewish children attended the school in Kolmsdorf, after which the community hired teachers from Trabelsdorf. In 1931, a teacher from Bamberg instructed the village’s Jewish pupils (those schoolteachers also performed the duties of cantor and ritual slaughterer). The cemetery was desecrated in 1933. On Pogrom Night, the synagogue’s interior was destroyed; ritual objects and books were set on fire. Eleven Walsdorf Jews emigrated, four relocated within Germany and one died in Walsdorf. Six Jews were deported to Izbica in April 1942; the village’s last Jewish woman was deported to Theresienstadt in September of that year, and died on the way there. At least 17 Walsdorf Jews perished in the Shoah. The synagogue, sold in 1940, was then used for storage purposes. Several memorial plaques have been unveiled in Waldorf.
Author / Sources: Heike Zaun Goshen
Sources: AH, AJ, EJL, PK BAV
www.juden-in-bamberg.de
www.stegaurach.de
Located in: bavaria