Fronhausen

General information: First Jewish presence: 1592; peak Jewish population: 46 in 1846; Jewish population in 1933: unknown (20 in 1930)
Summary: Until the mid-19th century, the Jews of Fronhausen were members of a synagogue association formed with the Jews in nearby Lohra and Roth. In 1870, several years after they began conducting services in a rented prayer hall, the Fronhausen Jews were recognized as an independent Jewish community. Most local Jews were livestock traders and butchers at that time. In 1874, a Jewish cemetery was consecrated on Stollberg. The community maintained its own mikveh and synagogue, the latter of which was established in a community-owned house on Marburger Strasse in 1896. Fronhausen was home to a Jewish school from 1882 until 1899. In early 1930, only six Jewish families lived in Fronhausen, some of whom eventually emigrated. The cemetery was vandalized on Pogrom Night; windows in the synagogue were broken and the building’s furniture was looted. Later, in 1941, the remaining Jewish residents were deported; according to records, 20 were deported from Fronhausen to the death camps, where they perished. Two local Jewish women survived the Riga Ghetto and immigrated to the United States in 1945. The cemetery houses a memorial, and a plaque has been affixed to the former synagogue building.
Author / Sources: Swetlana Frank
Sources: AJ, DJGH, EJL, FJG, LJG, SIA, SIH
Located in: hesse