Hessloch

Summary: Hessloch’s Jewish cemetery, built near Hillesheimer Strasse before 1730, was also used by the affiliated Jewish community of Monzernheim. In 1740, the Jews of Hessloch and those of nearby Gabsheim purchased a house and established a synagogue and a Jewish school there. When, in 1826, a new synagogue (the building also housed a mikveh) was opened at 1 Sackgasse, the old synagogue was converted into a community hall. The Sackgasse synagogue was renovated in 1925. Local Jews were able to employ a teacher of religion—he also functioned as chazzan and shochet—until 1913, after which religious instruction was provided by a teacher from Osthofen. In 1933, 30 Jews lived in Hessloch; we do not have a population figure for Monzernheim, but records do tell us that five Jews lived there in 1932. A Jewish welfare organization and a branch of the Reich Federation of Jewish Front Soldiers were active in the community. On Pogrom Night, rioters vandalized the synagogue and destroyed its interior. Sold to the local council in 1939, the building passed into private ownership in 1942. All Jews had left Hessloch before the outbreak of World War II. Many immigrated to the United States; some moved to Worms and Mainz. At least 21 Jews originally from Hessloch and six from Monzernheim perished in the Shoah. The synagogue was later converted into a storage room. In 1986, a commemorative plaque was affixed to the former community hall, opposite the synagogue site.

Author / Sources: Heidemarie Wawrzyn
Sources: AJ, DJGH, EJL, IAJGS, PK BAV, PK-HNF, SG-RPS, SIA