Bad Kissingen, Germany

In Jewish sources the town was known as Kisha. Jews were the victims of the Rindfleisch massacres of 1298. In 1705 a synagogue was dedicated and in 1801 a cemetery. A new synagogue was built in 1902 as the Jewish population grew from 210 in 1837 to a peak of 504 in 1925 (total 9,517). In 1933, 344 Jews remained in Bad Kissingen. The economic boycott under the Nazi regime struck hard at their tourist-based livelihoods as severe persecution ensued. Nonetheless, 15 Jewish boarding houses were still open in 1935 with 600 guests. On “Kristallnacht” (9 – 10 November 1938), Jewish homes and stores were destroyed along with a Jewish hotel and Jewish health facilities. All Jewish men under 70 were sent to the Dachau concentration camp. Emigration, which had commenced in 1933 with an exodus of younger Jews, reached a total of 121 through 1939, including 64 to the U. S. Another 143 left for other German cities, including 31 to Frankfurt and 29 to Berlin. Of the 43 Jews remaining in 1942, 23 were deported to Izbica in the Lublin district of Poland via Wuerzburg on 24 April and others were later sent to the Theresienstadt ghetto.