Schwaebisch-Hall

General information: First Jewish presence: 1241; peak Jewish population: 263 in 1880; Jewish population in 1933: 115
Summary: The modern Jewish community of Schwaebisch-Hall attended services in neighboring Steinbach until 1893, when a prayer hall, schoolroom, and teacher’s apartment were built at 8 Obere Herrengasse. The community used the Steinbach cemetery, but maintained its own mikveh. Steinbach Jews were affiliated with Schwaebisch-Hall in 1894. Dr. Jakob Berlinger was the district rabbi in 1933. Two charitable associations, a women’s association and a branch of the Central Association of German Citizens of Jewish Faith were active in the community. On Pogrom Night, Jewish property was vandalized, the prayer hall was demolished, furniture and ritual objects were burned in the marketplace and the Steinbach synagogue was burned down. Jews were assaulted, and two were sent to Dachau. Sixty Jews emigrated from Germany (including Rabbi Berlinger), 30 relocated within the country, nine died in the town and 22 were deported to the East in 1941/1942. At least 20 Schwaebisch-Hall Jews perished in the Shoah. During the Nazi period, 800 inmates were detained in a labor camp (a branch of Dachau) at the local airfield; later, a mass grave was discovered there. Memorials were unveiled at the prayer hall, at the market place, at the cemetery and near the mass grave. In 2004, a new Jewish community was established in Schwaebisch-Hall.
Author / Sources: Heike Zaun Goshen
Sources: AH, AJ, EJL, PK BW
www.synagoge.de
www.schwaebischhall.de
Located in: baden-wuerttemberg