Erfurt, Germany

There was Jewish settlement in Erfurt from the second half of the 12th century. The flourishing community maintained two synagogues, a mikveh, a cemetery, a yeshiva, and several famous rabbis. From the mid 14th century the synods of the rabbis of Thuringia and Saxony took place in E. During the Black Death persecutions of 1348-49, rioters murdered 100 out of 976 Jews. In 1453-54, the Jews were forced to leave the town, and it was not until 1768 that they were again allowed to trade and live temporarily in Erfurt. The modern Jewish settlement was established at the beginning of the 19th cent. A synagogue and cemetery were established and the community grew to 191 members in 1853; to 479 in 1860; and to 782 in 1900. A synagogue was established in 1884. There were also several welfare associations, a local branch of the Central Union (C.V.), and a Jewish History and Literature Society (1928). Jews played an important role in the city's economic development, by setting up clothing, wool, shoe, and malt factories. Three Jews were members of the city council. In the 1920s, systematic anti-Semitic propaganda inspired attacks on Jews and their property. In 1933, the Jewish population of Erfurt was 831 (0.6% of the total) and included a large number of immigrants from Eastern Europe. In April 1933, Jewish stores were boycotted. Emigration began and by 1936 the Jewish population dropped to 660. From 1937, the 100 stores and businesses still remaining in Jewish hands were subject to an extensive boycott. Some 100 Jews with non-German citizenship were deported to Poland in October 1938. On Kristallnacht (9-10 November 1938), the synagogue was set on fire and the chapel at the cemetery destroyed. The Nazis arrested and maltreated 197 Jews with ten men requiring hospitalization. Others were interned in the Buchenwald concentration camp. In September 1941, 188 Jews still lived in Erfurt. In four transports to the east, between May 1942 and Januar 1944, 152 were deported. Of those left in Erfurt, probably owing to marriage to non-Jews, 18 were deported to the Theresienstadt ghetto in January 1945. In 1946, a new Jewish community was established with 120 members. In the early 1950s, this was the largest community after Berlin in East Germany (GDR). A new synagogue was consecrated in 1952, but in 1988, the community had just 30 members.