Hoppstaedten

Summary: Hoppstaedten’s Jewish cemetery, consecrated in 1770 (if not earlier), was enlarged on three occasions between 1831 and 1903. Jews conducted services in private residences until 1836, when a synagogue was built at 16, Im Perch. We also know that the community’s Jewish school moved into its own building in 1883/84; the school closed down during World War I, but operated again from 1919 until 1924. Beginning in 1831, the provincial rabbinate of Birkenfeld—Birkenfeld Jews were members of Hoppstaedten’s Jewish community until 1923—was based in Hoppstaedten. In 1933, Dr. Alexander Lewin was rabbi. Thirteen children received religious instruction, and several Jewish associations and branches of nation-wide Jewish organizations were active in the community. By 1933, the Jews of Niederbrombach, Leisel, Nohfelden, Gimbweiler, Girsten and Wolfersweiler had been affiliated with the Jewish community of Hoppstaedten. On Pogrom Night, the synagogue’s interior and its ritual objects were destroyed; Jewish homes were broken into. Six Jewish men were arrested and abused, four of whom were sent to Dachau. Twenty-two local Jews emigrated and 19 relocated within Germany. In 1941, the remaining Jews were moved into a few designated Jewish-owned homes. Later, in 1942, 16 Hoppstaedten Jews were deported to the East and to Theresienstadt; a Jewish woman who was married to a Christian was permitted to remain in the village. At least 33 Hoppstaedten Jews perished in the Shoah. In 1950, the former synagogue was converted into a residential building. The Jewish cemetery was partially restored after the war, and a memorial plaque was unveiled in Hoppstaedten in 1981.

Author / Sources: Esther Sarah Evans
Sources: AJ, EJL, FJG, PK-NW