Windesheim

General information: First Jewish presence: unknown; peak Jewish population: 38 in 1888 and 1896; Jewish population in 1933: unknown
Summary: In 1808, 14 Jewish families lived in Windesheim. Additional Jewish population figures for the village are as follows: 32 in 1843; 35 in 1858; and 32 in 1925. Windesheim’s Jewish community consecrated a cemetery in the Langenlonsheim Forest (at Auf dem Roemerberg), just outside the village, in or around the year 1850. Records suggest that it was during the second half of the 19th century, too, that local Jews built a synagogue at 18 Waldhilbersheimer Strasse. The synagogue was desecrated on Pogrom Night, after which the Jewish community was forced to sell the building. Five Jewish families still lived in Windesheim in 1939. At least 10 local Jews perished in the Shoah. In 1983, the former synagogue building was torn down.
Author / Sources: Heidemarie Wawrzyn
Sources: AJ, LFD-RP, SMZG, YV