Jena, Germany

Jews lived in Jena from the mid 14th century and by 1430 there were at least 15 Jewish men there. From 1536 to 1790, Jews were not allowed to settle in Jena. Jews were allowed to enroll at the university from 1790 and from the second half of the 19th century, there were Jewish professors among the staff of the Friedrich Schiller University. The Jewish population numbered 64 in 1890 and 277 in 1925. Prayers were held in private homes. According to the Nazi census of June 1933, some four months after the Nazi rise to power, the Jewish population was 111. On Kristallnacht (9-10 November 1938), the windows of all Jewish shops were smashed and the Jewish men were arrested and deported to the Buchenwald concentration camp, where one perished. In 1941 and 1942 all remaining Jews were deported.