Bad Kreuznach, Germany

Bad Kreuznach Rhineland, Germany. Jews were already present in the 13th century. However, a community was only established in 1336 when Count Sponheim was authorized to settle 60 Jews on his estate. The community saw its end in the Black Death persecutions of 1348-49, when the Jews were murdered or expelled. Jews were again present in the last quarter of the 14th century but in 1404 all were arrested and their property confiscated. Jews were arrested again c. 1434, when the community included around ten families. In 1525, the Jews were allowed to engage in trade in addition to money lending. A new cemetery was opened in 1661 and a synagogue that remained in use for 200 years was constructed in 1737. In 1746, the Jewish population reached 30 families, and under the French rule, in the beginning of the 19th century, the community was steadily growing, becoming one of the most important in the region. In 1808, the number of Jews increased to 286 and in the same year the community was attached to the Bonn Consistory. A private Jewish school was opened in 1820 but it soon closed and other attempts to establish Jewish schools failed. A community center was built in 1844-45. Most Jews engaged in trade. The Jewish population subsequently grew to 506 in 1848 and 601 (total 15,321) in 1880. In the Weimar period, the economic position of the Jews remained satisfactory. Whereas some Jews worked in the liberal professions, most remained tradesmen and merchants. Jews were members of local choirs and sports clubs. A Jewish school for religious education enrolled 75 children in 1932. The communities of Muenster am Stein and Planig were attached to the congregation. In 1933, the Jewish population was 713 but already in the first months of Nazi rule about 200 Jews left the city. A children's sanatorium founded in 1920 became one of the two largest in Germany for Jewish children. Social and cultural life continued to flourish in the Nazi era. A Zionist youth group was founded in 1933. A Jewish public school was opened in 1937 with 34 children. However, unrelenting anti-Jewish agitation accompanied daily life. On Kristallnacht (9-10 November 1938), the children's sanatorium was shut down for good and SA troops and Hitler Youth wrecked the synagogue and caused serious damage to at least 22 Jewish homes and stores. Jewish men were sent to the Buchenwald and Dachau concentration camps. Jewish emigration continued throughout the period. In mid-1939, barely 200 Jews remained. Those who stayed were deported to the east.