Laudenbach

General information: First Jewish presence: unknown; peak Jewish population: 158 in 1858; Jewish population in 1933: 13
Summary: We know that the modern Jewish community in Laudenbach had established a synagogue by 1747; also, records for that year mention a Jewish school master. In 1787, when this synagogue was no longer safe to use, the community requested permission to build a new one; permission was granted on condition that the synagogue would not be located near a church or on a street through which church processions marched. The synagogue was built in 1799/1800. Although a school was opened near the new house of worship in 1828, it was shut down in 1911 as a result of insufficient enrollment. According to records, the community used the Weikersheim cemetery after 1729. The synagogue interior was destroyed on Pogrom Night; the ritual objects, however, had been moved to Bad Mergentheim at some point before the pogrom, when the community could no longer gather 10 men for a minyan. Although two elderly Jews were sent to Dachau that night, they were released on the way. Later, in December 1938, members of the SA were fatally injured while trying to blow up the synagogue building. Laudenbach’s remaining Jews were deported to Riga (in December 1941) and Theresienstadt (August 1942). At least 10 Laudenbach Jews perished in the Shoah. The synagogue building was later converted into an apartment building to which, in 1998, a plaque was affixed.
Author / Sources: Yaakov Borut
Sources: AJ, PK-BW
Located in: baden-wuerttemberg