Marktbreit

General information: First Jewish presence: 1487; peak Jewish population: 320 in 1890 (13.4% of the total population); Jewish population in 1933: 127
Summary: The community’s synagogue, established in the 17th century, burned down in 1714, after which, in 1717, a new house of worship was built on Pfoertleinstrasse (renovated and reinaugurated in 1885). This synagogue housed a mikveh and a school for religious studies, the latter of which became a Jewish elementary school in 1920. Marktbreit’s Jews buried their dead in Roedelsee. In 1933, 20 children attended the school. Several Jewish associations were still active in Marktbreit that year. On Pogrom Night, local residents vandalized 11 Jewish homes. The following morning, the mayor and other town officials prevented the SS from setting fire to the synagogue. Instead, the SS men destroyed the synagogue’s interior, ritual objects and Torah scrolls. Jews were assembled in the marketplace, where they were humiliated by local residents; six of the men were deported to Dachau and Buchenwald. After the pogrom, the remaining Jews were forcibly moved into several designated houses; according to records, they were later moved to the Jewish community center. Between 1933 and 1942, 54 Jews moved to Marktbreit, 135 either emigrated from or relocated within Germany, and eight died in the town. Thirty-two were deported to Izbica (via Wuerzburg) and to Theresienstadt in 1942. At least 88 Marktbreit Jews perished in the Shoah. The synagogue building was later converted into a combined residential and commercial property. A memorial plaque has been unveiled at the site.
Author / Sources: Heidemarie Wawrzyn
Sources: AJ, DJGB, EJL, PK BAV, SIA, SXJL
Located in: bavaria