Coburg, Germany

Jews were present in the mid-13th century, and inhabited a Jewish quarter with a synagogue and other facilities. The community was destroyed in the Black Death persecutions of 1348-49 and renewed by survivors soon after. The Jews engaged mainly in lending and changing money. In 1422 they were forced to wear a special badge and in 1447 the synagogue was converted into a church and the cemetery impounded. The Jews were expelled shortly thereafter. The modern community dates from the early 19th century, and grew to 240 in 1895 (total 18,868). During the Weimar Republic, Coburg was a hotbed of Nazism, with Hitler himself leading marches there in 1922 and 1932. Throughout this period, the Jews operated large factories and business establishments, especially in the clothing industry. When the Nazis came to power in 1933, the Jewish population was 233. Forty of the community's leading figures were arrested and brutally beaten and Jews were banned from various public places. The synagogue was also closed down. On “Kristallnacht” (9-10 Nov. 1938), Jewish homes and stores were destroyed. By 1942, 85 Jews managed to emigrate and 61 left for other German cities. Those remaining were confined to two buildings and expelled in three groups: to the Riga ghetto on 27 November 1941, to Izbica in the Lublin district of Poland on 25 April 1942, and to the Theresienstadt ghetto on 9 September 1942.