Augsburg-Kriegshaber

General information: First Jewish presence: 14th century; peak Jewish population: 415 in 1737; Jewish population in 1933: 40-50
Summary: The Jewish community of Kriegshaber consecrated a cemetery in 1627. It was during the 17th century, too, that the community employed a rabbi and opened a prayer hall. The Kriegshaber synagogue was established in a house on Ulmerstrasse at some point between 1680 and 1685. Rebuilt in 1725 and transferred to the community in 1791, the synagogue was renovated several times between 1730 and 1913. The mikveh, located in a private home, became community property in 1840. In Kriegshaber, teachers of religion also functioned as cantors and ritual slaughterers. We also know that the community had been affiliated with that of Augsburg by 1916. The synagogue escaped serious damage on Pogrom Night (one window was smashed). Between December of 1938 and 1942, local Jews continued to conduct services in the Kriegshaber synagogue. Most Kriegshaber Jews emigrated; those who remained were deported in 1942. In 1944, 500 Hungarian-Jewish women were brought to the town from Auschwitz to work in armament production. At least 16 local Jews perished in the Shoah. In 1945, the synagogue housed a vocational school for potential immigrants to Palestine. The Augsburg municipality acquired the building in 1955 and used it, among other things, as a church and a storage depot. A memorial was later unveiled at the cemetery.
Author / Sources: Heidemarie Wawrzyn; Sources: AJ, EJL, KBO, PK-BAV , jhva.wordpress.com/
Located in: bavaria