Ittlingen

Summary: By 1858, the year in which this community recorded its peak membership figure, most local Jews earned a living as traders of cattle, leather, textiles, and grain. The community established a prayer room in the 17th century, a synagogue at Untere Muehlgasse in 1805, a mikveh on an unspecified date, a Jewish restaurant in 1887 and a cemetery on Richener Buehl in 1887. Local Jews were able to employ teachers of religion—who also served as cantors and ritual slaughterers—until 1925. In 1933, the diminished community (40 members) still brought in a teacher from nearby Bretten for the benefit of the few remaining schoolchildren. On Pogrom Night, the synagogue’s interior, ritual objects and furnishings were destroyed, as were other Jewish properties. The synagogue building was torn down later that month. Eleven Ittlingen Jews emigrated, 11 moved to other places in Germany, nine died in Ittlingen, and eight, the last, were deported to the concentration camp in Gurs, France, in October 1940. At least 16 Ittlingen Jews perished in the Shoah. In 1988, a memorial plaque was unveiled opposite the former synagogue site, which now accommodates a garden.

Author / Sources: Heike Zaun Goshen
Sources: AH, AJ, HU, PK-BW