Zirndorf

General information: First Jewish presence: 1551; peak Jewish population: 105 in 1809; Jewish population in 1933: 64
Summary: During the late 17th and early 18th centuries, the Jewish community of Zirndorf maintained a yeshiva in the house of a wealthy local Jew. Zirndorf Jews prayed in a synagogue on Kleinstrasse—established in 1685—until 1768, when they inaugurated a new synagogue (renovated in 1909 and again in 1929) whose ritual items included a Memorbuch (memorial book) and a Torah scroll from 1757; the building also housed a mikveh, a school and an apartment for a teacher who served as shochet and chazzan. Burials took place in Fuerth. In 1933, a Jewish women’s association was active in Zirndorf. On Pogrom Night (November 9-10, 1938), the synagogue’s interior and ritual objects were destroyed (the memorial book survived). The following day, November 11, the remaining Jews were loaded onto a truck and driven out of town. They returned, but were ordered to liquidate their businesses and leave immediately. Zirndorf’s last Jews departed in December 1938. During the Nazi period, 14 Zirndorf Jews emigrated, 38 relocated within Germany and two died in Zirndorf. At least 16 local Jews perished in the Shoah. The synagogue was appropriated by the municipality and used as a Red Cross base. The building later accommodated a junior high school and, in 1997, was converted into a luxury residence to which two memorial plaques have been affixed.
Author / Sources: Heike Zaun Goshen
Sources: AH, AJ, EJL, PK-BAV
Located in: bavaria