Gross-Zimmern

Summary: The earliest available record of a Jewish presence (in this case, a single Jew) in Gross-Zimmern is dated 1605. The Jewish population grew from 19 families in approximately 1770 to a peak of 144 Jews in 1867. Established in the 18th century, the community initially conducted services in a prayer room. Town records from 1802 mention a synagogue (called the Judenschule, or “Jews’ school”) at 17 Kreuzstrasse (formerly Mittelstrasse), and we also know that the ramshackle building was torn down in 1889; in 1891, local Jews inaugurated (on the same site) a new synagogue with a seating capacity of 100. Gross- Zimmern was also home to a school for religious studies and a mikveh. Burials were conducted in Dieburg. In 1933, 71 Jews lived in Gross-Zimmern. Teacher Meier Spier (who served the community from 1883 until 1938) instructed nine children that year. Three Jewish welfare associations—an Israelite women’s association, a men’s association and a youth association—were active in the community. Gross-Zimmern was an anti-Nazi stronghold until 1933. Nevertheless, 44 of its Jews emigrated from or relocated within Germany early in the Nazi period, as a result of which the synagogue was shut down in 1934/35. Later, in 1939, the building was converted into a furniture warehouse. On Pogrom Night, the synagogue’s interior was destroyed and six Jewish men were taken to Buchenwald. A Jewish couple was deported in 1942. At least 35 Gross-Zimmern Jews perished in the Shoah. The former synagogue building was torn down in 1971; a monument was unveiled nearby in 1986.

Author / Sources: Heidemarie Wawrzyn
Sources: AJ, EJL, LJG