Eppelsheim
General information: First Jewish presence: 1722; peak Jewish population: 70 in 1828 and 1830; Jewish population in 1933: 17
Summary:
The Jewish community of Eppelsheim was founded in or
around 1800. A Jewish cemetery (located northwest of
the village) was consecrated in 1833 and used by the Jews
of Eppelsheim, Gundersheim and Westhofen. Although
the community drew up plans for the construction of a
synagogue (at 7 Blaugasse) in 1841/42, it was only in 1850,
after securing the necessary funds from the communities
in Worms and Frankfurt, that the synagogue was opened.
During the Weimar period, only four Jewish families lived
in Eppelsheim. Seventeen Jews lived there in 1933, most of
whom left after the Nazis came to power. Accordingly, the Jewish community was dissolved in 1935. Later, on Pogrom
Night (November 1938), rioters destroyed the defunct
synagogue’s interior.
Under Nazi rule, seven Eppelsheim Jews emigrated, 14
relocated within Germany and one passed away in the village.
Eppelsheim’s last Jews left in the summer of 1939. At least
three local Jews perished in the Shoah.
The synagogue building—it was used as a toolshed after
World War II—was torn down in 1973. A memorial plaque
has been affixed to the front gate of the village’s Protestant
church.
Author / Sources: Heidemarie Wawrzyn
Sources: AJ, DJGH, EJL, PK-HNF, SG-RPS, SIA
Sources: AJ, DJGH, EJL, PK-HNF, SG-RPS, SIA
Located in: rhineland-palatinate