Niederkirchen

Summary: In or around the year 1650, a Jewish cemetery was consecrated in the village of Niederkirchen. The modern Jewish community consecrated a new cemetery on Auf dem Hahnenhuegel/Im Kennelgraben in 1860. Earlier, in 1842/43, the Jews of Niederkirchen purchased a barn (15 Talstrasse) and renovated it as a Moorish-style synagogue; the synagogue, which opened in 1850, seated 90 men and, in the gallery, 50 women; it also housed a school and an apartment for a rabbi—employed until 1918—or a teacher. The synagogue annex burned down in 1931, and the community, which by then had dwindled considerably, was unable to rebuild it. In 1933, 19 Jews resided in Niederkirchen. A Jewish women’s group provided the remaining Jews with welfare services. Although only 13 Jews lived in Niederkirchen in 1938, the synagogue was nevertheless burned to the ground on Pogrom Night. On October 22, 1940 (by which point almost all Jews had left the village), one Niederkirchen Jew was deported to Gurs; the village’s last Jew (a woman) was deported in 1942. At least four local Jews perished in the Shoah. In 1949, ownership of the former synagogue was transferred to the regional Jewish community. The building was sold to a farmer in 1964.

Author / Sources: Heidemarie Wawrzyn
Sources: AJ, FJW, IAJGS, SG-RPS, SMZG, YV
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