Stuttgart, Germany

A small Jewish community was in existence in the early 13th century, living in a special quarter with a synagogue, cemetery, and other public facilities. Most of the Jews were burned to death in the Black Death massacres of 1348-49 and the survivors expelled. Jews were again present in small numbers in the late 14th century, until expelled about a hundred years later. Permanent Jewish settlement was not renewed until the early 19th century, but individuals lived there previously, including Court Jews such as Joseph Suess Oppenheimer (1699-1738). In 1807, 92 Jews were present. The community rose to a population of 3,015 in 1880 and 4,291 in 1910 (total 286,218). The community engaged mainly in banking and large-scale commerce. In 1873 an outburst of violence caused much damage to Jewish homes and stores until stopped by the army. With official recognition of the community in 1834, Joseph Maier (1797-1874) became Wurttemberg district rabbi, instituting a new German-language prayer service. Orthodox circles countered by forming the Adass Jeshurun congregation in 1878. During WWI, East European Jews settled in the city. The Jewish population reached a peak of 4,548 (total 341,967) in 1925. There was a measure of anti-Semitic agitation in the Weimar period. Jewish communal life remained rich and active. At the commencement of Nazi rule in 1933, the Jews maintained their strong economic position, owning 166 large wholesale and retail establishments and 106 factories. Jewish civil servants were fired from their jobs and the economic boycott was variously enforced against Jewish businesses. In February/March 1936, Jews were severely beaten in the basement of Gestapo headquarters. By the end of 1937, 1,342 Jews had emigrated. The community made great efforts to sustain its social and cultural life, with the Zionists now becoming more active and a Jewish elementary school opened in 1934 and enrolling 213 children in 1936-37. Vocational training and foreign-language courses were also opened. On “Kristallnacht” (9-10 November 1938), the synagogue was set on fire, communal property was impounded, and Jewish stores were heavily damaged. Around 800 Jewish men were detained, some of them being sent to the Welzheim and Dachau concentration camps, and community institutions were shut down. In 1939, 2,093 Jews were evicted from their homes on the basis of a new regulation requiring Jews to vacate apartments rented from non-Jews. In 1940, Jews were subjected to forced labor in German munitions factories. In 1940-41, 600 – 800 of the aged were transferred by the Germans to improvised old age homes throughout the country from which they were ultimately deported to the east. Mass deportations commenced on 1 December 1941, when 1,000 Wurttemberg Jews, including 318 from Stuttgart and its last 50 schoolchildren, were sent to the Riga ghetto. Another 93 were part of a group of 350 Jews deported to Izbica in the Lublin district (Poland) on 26 April 1942, which included the last children in Wurttemberg and the last doctors and nurses at Jewish hospitals. A third group of 49 of the sick and aged, with 13 from Stuttgart, was dispatched directly to the gas chambers of Auschwitz on 13 July. On 22 August, 53 Stuttgart Jews were part of a consignment of 1,072 transported to the Theresienstadt ghetto and between 1 March 1943 and 14 Feb. 1945 a further 400-500 Wurttemberg Jews were deported to Theresienstadt and Auschwitz. In all, 1,175 of the Jews of Stuttgart were deported. At least 1,000 perished. After the war a new community was formed, numbering 1,176 in 1946, with most subsequently emigrating. About 350 Jews were living there in 1990.