Stadtlengsfeld

General information: First Jewish presence: 14th century; peak Jewish population: 566 in 1817 (25% of total population); Jewish population in 1932/33: 32
Summary: Although there is some evidence of a Jewish presence in Stadtlengsfeld as early as 1359, little is known about this early community. Jews returned to Stadtlengsfeld during the 17th century. In or around the year 1825, the community built a synagogue, at 8 Amtstrasse, and employed a rabbi. A cemetery was consecrated on Roter Graben (it was in use from 1729 to 1933), and the Jewish school at 15 Ratsgasse was in use until, approximately, 1860. Because Stadtlengsfeld was the most important Jewish center in the southern Thuringia region, the regional rabbinate of the Grand Duchy of Saxony Weimar Eisenach was based there. In 1932/33, 32 Jews lived in Stadtlengsfeld. A Chewro Bikkur Cholim society for visiting the sick and a Jewish women’s association saw to the needs of the ill and indigent. A shochet served the community that year, and we also know that three Jewish children received religious instruction. A few days after Pogrom Night, SA men destroyed the synagogue, vandalized Jewish homes and businesses and desecrated the cemetery. At least five Stadtlengsfeld Jews perished in the Shoah. The former synagogue was later used for various purposes (as an apartment building, a workshop and a café). The site now accommodates several businesses.
Author / Sources: Heidemarie Wawrzyn
Sources: AJ, EJL, FJG, YV
www.stadt-stadtlengsfeld.de
Located in: thuringia