Westheim bei Hassfurt
General information: First Jewish presence: 18th century; peak Jewish population: 112 in 1890 (15.35% of the total population); Jewish population in 1933: 43
Summary: In 1913, one year after Westheim’s older synagogue building
collapsed, the community established a new synagogue in
another building, next door to which were a community
center, a mikveh and a school for religious studies. Burials
were conducted in Kleinsteinach.
Five Jewish schoolchildren studied religion in Westheim
in 1933.
On Pogrom Night, all Westheim’s Jewish men were
detained in the synagogue and were forced to watch as the building’s interior was wrecked; several of the men were
wounded by falling debris. Outside, 200 locals cheered as
the synagogue’s Torah scrolls and ritual objects were burned.
Jewish homes and businesses were vandalized and looted,
and two Jews were brutally beaten. Anyone accused of being
a “sympathizer” with the Jews was attacked, including the
pastor and his wife. After the violence ended, local Jewish
men were imprisoned in Hassfurt.
In September 1940, Westheim’s remaining Jews were
forced to move into one house.
During the Nazi period, nine Jews emigrated, two
relocated within Germany and eight died in Westheim. In
April and September of 1941, the remaining 21 Jews were
deported to Izbica or to Theresienstadt. Between 33 and 47
Westheim Jews perished in the Shoah.
The dilapidated, former Jewish community center, used
for storage purposes after the war, was demolished in 2008.
The synagogue has been converted into a residential building.
Author / Sources: Heike Zaun Goshen
Sources: AH, AJ, EJL, PK-BAV
Sources: AH, AJ, EJL, PK-BAV
Located in: bavaria