Neustadt an der Aisch

Summary: Although Jews were persecuted in Neustadt in 1803, a Jewish community was founded there in the mid-19th century. The community established a prayer hall in the 1860s and a synagogue (at 6 Gartenstrasse) in 1880. Local Jews maintained a mikveh and employed a teacher who also served the community as chazzan and shochet. We also know that burials were conducted in Diespeck. Neustadt was the scene of anti-Semitic violence well before the Nazi period: the synagogue’s windows were smashed on two occasions in 1929, and the Diespeck cemetery was desecrated in 1930 and 1933. In 1933, 10 schoolchildren studied religion in Neustadt; two welfare associations and a branch of the Central Association of German Citizens of Jewish Faith were active there that year. From 1934 onwards, Christians were forbidden to sell bread to Jews; meanwhile, Jews were not permitted to sell bread at all. Fifty-three local Jews had fled by November of 1938. On November 8, 1933, the remaining Jews were ordered to leave within eight days. The synagogue was destroyed on Pogrom Night; a fouryear- old Jewish child was severely injured. One month later, in December 1938, the sole remaining Jew left town. At least 23 Neustadt Jews perished in the Shoah. An apartment building, to which a commemorative plaque has been affixed, was later built on the synagogue site.

Author / Sources: Heidemarie Wawrzyn
Sources: AJ, DJGB, EJL, PK-BAV, SZJLB
www.neustadt-aisch.de