Horb

Summary: The founders of Horb’s modern Jewish community settled there in the 19th century. Local Jews were members of the Nordstetten community until 1903, when the independent Jewish community of Horb was founded. Horb was the seat of a district rabbinate from 1913 until 1936. The community established a prayer room in 1903 and a cemetery in 1904. Plans for the construction of a synagogue were crushed when the Nazis came to power. In 1933, however, Horb was home to a Jewish women’s society, a branch of the Reich Federation of Jewish Front Soldiers, and youth and welfare associations. A teacher instructed 20 pupils in religion that year. On Pogrom Night, rioters destroyed the prayer room’s interior and desecrated graves at the cemetery. One Jewish establishment was looted, and windows in others were smashed. Several local men were sent to Dachau. Five Jews moved to Horb after 1933. Sixty fled, 20 died in Horb and 25 were forced to relocate to Rexingen, after which they were deported to Riga and to Theresienstadt. At least 38 Horb Jews perished in the Shoah. A plaque was affixed to the former prayer room after the war; a memorial stone was unveiled in the cemetery in 1999.

Author / Sources: Heike Zaun Goshen
Sources: AJ, IAJGS, PK-BW
www.horb.de