Zeitz

Summary: The earliest records pertaining to the settlement of Jewish merchants in Zeitz are from the 14th century. Zeitz was home to 44 Jews in 1895 and to 150 (the peak population figure) in 1913. During the 15th century—Jewish families then lived on the Judengasse, or “Jews’ alley”—the community maintained a prayer room. Jews were expelled from Zeitz at the end of that century. The modern Jewish community emerged in the second half of the 19th century. Communal institutions included a prayer room, set up in the rear of the building at 8 Judengasse, and a classroom. Burials were conducted at the Jewish cemetery in Leipzig. In 1933, 47 Jews lived in Zeitz. The nation-wide, anti- Jewish boycott of April 1933 was also implemented in Zeitz, financially crippling approximately 15 Jewish-owned businesses. On Pogrom Night, SA troops destroyed the interior of the synagogue and vandalized Jewish-owned shops. Two Jews were arrested that night. Little else, however, is known about the fate of the 20 or so Jews who were still living in Zeitz at the time of the pogrom. In May 2007, memorial stumbling stones were unveiled in Zeitz. A memorial plaque has been affixed to the building that once housed the prayer room.

Author / Sources: Heidemarie Wawrzyn
Sources: LJG, SIA, W-G
juden-in-sachsen.de/
www.stolpersteine.com/