Bamberg, Germany

In Jewish sources the town was known as Babenberk, Bonfir. Jews were present in the 11th century under the protection of the bishop. In 1096, during the First Crusade, they were forcibly converted, though afterwards allowed to return to their faith. The Jews lived in a special quarter with a synagogue and other facilities and engaged mainly in money lending. The first known rabbi was Shemuel b. Barukh (about 1220), founder of a well-known yeshiva. The Jews were persecuted throughout the 13th and 14th century with 135 murdered in the Rindfleisch massacres of 1298 and the Jewish quarter destroyed in the Black Death persecutions of 1348-49. Survivors renewed the community but were again subjected to persecution in the 15th century, and finally expelled in 1478, finding shelter in neighboring villages. Rabbi Moshe Mintz, one of the most influential talmudists of his time, was the community's last rabbi for 200 years. By the end of the 17th century, the community had expanded to 24 families, engaging now in some trade in addition to money lending, despite severe restrictions. In 1699, anti-Jewish riots spread from Bamberg to 24 other settlements in the area. In the second half of the 18th century, frequent wars brought to the fore a number of Court Jews as army contractors and bankers. In 1803, Bamberg was annexed to Bavaria and the Jews came under the protection of Duke Maximilian Joseph. In 1806 the state rabbinate was dissolved and in 1813 the "Jew decree" restricted Jewish settlement after the Jewish population stood at 287 (total 18,143). In 1825 Rabbi Shimon Rosenfeld became rabbi of the community, the first in Bavaria to deliver his sermons in German. A new cemetery was consecrated in 1851. In the second half of the 19th century, the community reached its peak growth, numbering 1,269 in 1880. In the 1920s the Jews suffered from anti-Semitic agitation and violence, promoted by the budding Nazi party. Nonetheless the community was one of the most economically important in Germany. Jews were pioneers in local industry, traded in cattle and horses, and operated a local branch of the Tietz department store. In 1933 the Jewish population stood at 812 (total 54,161). With the Nazi rise to power in 1933 a period of severe persecution commenced. Three Jews were murdered at the Dachau concentration camp in 1933. In 1934, Jewish municipal workers and newspaper employees were fired; lawyers were banned from appearing in court and doctors from treating non-Jewish patients. The economic boycott was enforced against Jewish stores and factories, which underwent a process of “Aryanization”. Throughout the period the community intensified its cultural and social services. The Jewish Cultural Association (Juedischer Kulturbund) put on concerts and other performances and Zionist youth were prepared for aliyah. Between 1933-41, 443 Jews emigrated from Germany. On “Kristallnacht” (9-10 November 1938) the Great Synagogue was burned to the ground. The old synagogue and community center were vandalized along with numerous Jewish homes. In 1939 the Jews were evicted from their homes and placed under a curfew. In 1941 they were subjected to arduous forced labor. In November 300 Jews remained in Bamberg. Of these, 106 were deported to the Riga ghetto via Nuremberg on 29 November, 105 were deported to Izbica (in the Lublin district of Poland) via Nuremberg on 25 April 1942, and many of the others were sent to the Theresienstadt ghetto and Auschwitz through February 1943. After the war, Bamberg became one of the three largest Displaced Persons centers in Bavaria, housing over 14,000 Jews in 37 camps in 1947.