Mainbernheim

General information: First Jewish presence: 1391; peak Jewish population: 140 in 1837; Jewish population in 1933: 25
Summary: Mainbernheim’s 18th-century Jewish community conducted services in a prayer hall (located in a private house) until 1748, when a synagogue was built on Untere Brunnengasse. A rabbi served the community during the 18th century, and up until 1871, the town was home to a district rabbinate. Although Mainbernheim’s Jews were able to maintain their own mikveh and school, they buried their dead in Roedelsee. In 1933, the Jewish teacher instructed only one student. Later, on Pogrom Night (November 1938), SA men and apprentices from a local workshop destroyed the synagogue’s roof; schoolchildren and members of the Hitler Youth burned furniture, ritual objects and Torah scrolls. Six homes were raided, Jews were assaulted and property was damaged. Two elderly Jews suffered head injuries inflicted by stone-wielding vandals, and all Jewish men were arrested and taken to the Kitzingen jail. Between 1933 and 1940, 20 Jews left Mainbernheim, five of whom emigrated. One elderly Jewish woman died in Mainbernheim in May of 1942, the same year during which the town’s last four Jews were deported to Izbica and Theresienstadt. At least 15 Mainbernheim Jews perished in the Shoah. The synagogue was converted into an apartment building after the war; a commemorative plaque has been affixed to the building.
Author / Sources: Heidemarie Wawrzyn
Sources: AJ, DJGB, EJL, PK-BAV, SZJLB
Located in: bavaria