Niederwerrn, Germany

The community was established no later than the second half of the 17th century and was one of the oldest attached to the chief rabbinate at Wuerzburg. In 1796, French forces looted the Jewish ghetto. The Jewish population numbered around 300 in 1836 (40% of the total). Most of the Jews were craftsmen. In 1880, the Jewish population was 197 and in 1933 it was 39. On “Kristallnacht” (9 – 10 November 1938), a gang of 50 SA troops, bolstered by local residents and armed with hammers and axes, destroyed 11 Jewish homes. Afterwards the synagogue was vandalized and religious articles were burned. All the Jews were forced to sell their homes and land holdings. In 1934-40, 39 Jews left Niederwerrn, 21 emigrating (including 12 to the U. S.). The last nine were deported to Izbica in the Lublin district (Poland) and to the Theresienstadt ghetto in 1942.