Mutterstadt

Summary: The modern Jewish community of Mutterstadt established its first synagogue in 1838. In 1905, a new synagogue, which also housed a mikveh and a laundry, was inaugurated at 24 Oggersheimer Strasse (formerly Rheinstrasse). The synagogue had windows on which scenes from ancient Jewish history were painted. Local Jews buried their dead in Wachenheim until 1822, after which burials were conducted in Fussgoenheim. In 1890, however, the community consecrated its own Jewish cemetery. Ninety-one Jews lived in Mutterstadt in 1933. That same year, 10 schoolchildren received religious instruction from a teacher/chazzan. On Pogrom Night, SA men burned down the Mutterstadt synagogue and destroyed Jewish-owned homes and businesses; Jewish men were sent to Dachau, and the community was disbanded not long after the pogrom. By 1940, 48 Mutterstadt Jews had emigrated from Germany. Those who remained were forcibly moved into a few Jewish-owned houses, from which, in February 1940, the able-bodied were taken for forced agricultural labor. On October 22, 1940, 52 Mutterstadt Jews were deported to the concentration camp in Gurs, France. At least 75 local Jews were deported to the East, of whom 57 perished in the Shoah. The Jewish cemetery was renovated in 1947; a memorial plaque was unveiled there in 1990.

Author / Sources: Esther Sarah Evans
Sources: AJ, EJL, FJW, SG-RPS, YV
www.judeninmutterstadt.org