Gleidingen

Summary: By 1848, most local Jews were traders (of cattle, agricultural produce and textiles) and butchers. The Jewish cemetery on Dammacker was apparently consecrated in the mid-1600s. Records from 1732 mention a teacher, and we also know that in 1837, the community replaced its rented prayer room with a synagogue and school on Thorstrasse. In 1847, a mikveh in a garden was replaced by another, fed by heated spring water. Although the community founded a Jewish school in 1854, unfavorable employment conditions led to frequent replacements of the teacher. Eighteen Jews lived in Gleidingen in 1933; by 1935, that number had increased to approximately 30. Local Jews were arrested on Pogrom Night, and Jewishowned homes and businesses were vandalized. Members of the local SA demolished the synagogue, but we do not know what happened to the ritual objects. The synagogue was sold in 1939 or 1940, by which point 121 Jews lived in the town, among them eight local Jews; the others were Austrian Jews who had been sent to Gleidingen as forced laborers. The cemetery was restored after the war. Gleidingen’s synagogue was pulled down in 1949, and the site was converted into a garden. As of this writing, no memorial has ever been erected there. At least ten Gleidingen Jews perished in the Shoah.

Author / Sources: Heike Zaun Goshen
Sources: AH, HU, JH NB1, SIA