Himbach

Summary: The Jewish community of Himbach was established in or around 1849. Available Jewish population figures for Himbach (in addition to those listed above) are 32 in 1879 and 38 in 1900. Jews from the neighboring village of Hainchen, where 15 Jews lived in 1830 and three in 1905, were affiliated with the Himbach community. Although we do not know when the synagogue on Erbsengasse—with 12 seats for men, 12 for women— was established, records do tell us that it was renovated in 1929/30. Local Jews conducted burials in Eckartshausen. (The affiliated community of Hainchen maintained its own Jewish cemetery.) In 1933, 28 Jews (seven families) lived in Himbach, most of whom were cattle traders and merchants. Several Jewish residents died in Himbach, an SA stronghold, before 1938. On Pogrom Night, rioters burned down the synagogue, soon after which the gutted building was pulled down. Nineteen Jews left Himbach in 1938/1939; records suggest that they relocated to Frankfurt am Main and were later deported to the East. By May 1939, all Jews had left Himbach. Two Jewish families from affiliated Hainchen immigrated to the United States and to South America. At least six Himbach Jews and two from Hainchen perished in the Shoah.

Author / Sources: Heidemarie Wawrzyn
Sources: AH, DJGH, AJ, EJL, FJG, SIA, YV