Regensburg, Germany

REGENSBURG (in Jewish sources Gushpurk, Rushpruk), Upper Palatinate, Germany. Jews may have arrived in Roman times but are first mentioned in 981 and formed an organized community in the early 11th century. It was the first community in Germany, housed from the late 12th century in a special quarter surrounded by walls for its protection. In 1096, during the First Crusade, the Jews were forcibly baptized in the Danube River, but allowed to return to their faith a year later. In the early 12th century the Jews were accorded wide-ranging trade privileges. From the 11th century, Regensburg was a great center of Torah learning and its scholars, known as "the sages of Regensburg", included talmudic commentators (tosafists) like Rabbenu Tam. Among its illustrious rabbis was Yehuda ben Shemuel heHasid (1130 -1217), who founded a yeshiva there and was one of the formative influences on German Judaism in the Middle Ages. He was one of the key figures in the Hasidei Ashkenaz movement of which Regensburg was a major center. Jews continued to be valued for their economic contribution to the city's economy, with king, nobles, and townsmen vying to accord "protection" in return for substantial taxes. Thus the Jews of Regensburg escaped a series of massacres. In 1393 they were forbidden to employ Christian servant women under the age of 50. In 1452 they were forced to wear a distinctive badge. During Lent, young townsmen made it a practice to attack and beat Jews and monks from the religious orders agitated vitriolically against them. In 1475, 17 Jews were imprisoned in a blood libel and in 1519 all 5,003 residents and another 80 studying at the yeshiva were expelled from the city. The modern Jewish community commenced in the second half of the 17th century but was restricted to a few families until the second half of the 18th century when Jews again became active in trade. The Matrikel laws of 1813 limited the number of Jewish families to the 17 present at the time. In 1841 a new synagogue was dedicated. An era of rapid growth commenced in the 1860s, with Jews arriving from other settlements. In 1881 the Jewish population reached a peak of 675 (total 34,516). In religion, the Reform movement gained a firm foothold in the community. In 1933 the Jewish population stood at 427 (total 81,106). The era of Nazi rule was marked by virulent anti-Semitic agitation and a strict economic boycott. Throughout the period, community life continued with extensive cultural activity and welfare services. Between 1933 and 1938, 268 Jews left Regensburg – 101 to other German cities and 167 going abroad. On Kristallnacht (9-10 November 1938), the synagogue and community center were burned to the ground, Jewish apartments were destroyed and Jewish men, women, and children were arrested and humiliated. Another 103 were expelled to Munich on 2 April 1942 and from there transported to Piaski near Lublin (Poland) and 117 mostly elderly people were deported to the Theresienstadt ghetto in September 1942. The last 14 Jews, living in mixed marriages, were also deported to the Theresienstadt ghetto, on 14 February 1945. Between March 1944 and April 1945, about 150 Jews were kept in a forced labor camp set up in Regensburg as a branch of the Flossenbuerg concentration camp. After the war, tens of thousands of Jewish Displaced Persons were housed and cared for in the area. In 1970 the renewed Jewish community numbered 140.