Worms, Germany

WORMS (in Jewish sources Vormayza), Germany. Jews lived there in Roman times and by 960 had established a community that gained spiritual as well as numerical importance during the 11th century. Built in 1034, its synagogue was the oldest in Central Europe until 1938. Emperor Henry IV’s charters exempting “Jews and other inhabitants of Worms” from custom duties in 1074 and granting freedom of worship and other rights in 1090 indicate the vital role played by Jewish merchants in the Rhineland. Within this hospitable environment the community flourished, maintaining a Yeshiva that attracted preeminent scholars and students. Rashi, the great Bible and Talmud commentator, studied there. When the Crusaders invaded the Jewish quarter (Judengasse) and the bishop’s palace, however, 800 Jews perished (18-26 May 1096). Survivors, including forced converts who had reverted to Judaism, were permitted to restore the community in 1097. During the Second Crusade (1146), Worms’ Jews took refuge elsewhere and during the Third Crusade (1187-88) Emperor Frederick I Barbarossa prevented another massacre. The “Shum” communities (Speyer, Worms and Mainz) secured rabbinical authority over all the Jews of “Ashkenaz” (1150). When the Black Death struck Worms in 1349, a mob destroyed the Judengasse and slaughtered about 400 Jews. No significant change occurred until the era of French revolutionary occupation (1729-1813). Jews obtained civil right and the ghetto gates were demolished. Under the Grand Duchy of Hesse, however, Jewish disabilities were renewed and a campaign for their abolition only proved successful one year before the 1848 revolution. The community grew to 985 in 1861.The instillation of musical instruments into the synagogue impelled orthodox members to found a breakaway congregation in 1877. After WW I, Branches of the Central Union ( C.V.), Jewish war Veterans Association and Zionist organizations were active in Worms. Nazi violence escalated after Hitler rose to power. On 7 March 1933, SA troops kidnapped and murdered Julius Frank, onetime head of the Social Democratic “Reichsbanner” organization in Dolgesheim. Many Jews were sent to the Osthofen concentration camp, and from 1 April the dismissal of Jewish professionals and the “Aryanization” of Jewish-owned stores accentuated the Nazi boycott campaign. In response, the community augmented its cultural program and established a central welfare bureau in 1934. By 31 December 1937 only 525 Jews remained and at least 37 Ostjuden were expelled to the Polish border town of Zbonszyn in October 1938. On Kristallnacht (9-10 November 1938) Nazis burned the historic synagogue and adjacent Rashi Chapel, vandalized other community property and sent 46 Jewish men to the Buchenwald concentration camp. Valuable documents and manuscripts, together with museum exhibits and half-burned Torah scrolls, were rescued by the city archivist, Dr. Illert, who kept them hidden until 1945; he also managed to preserve the ancient Jewish cemetery. Of the 1345 Jews who lived in Worms during the Nazi period, 802 had emigrated by September 1941. At least 435 perished as a result of deportation, torture and suicide. When U.S. troops entered Worms in March 1945 not a single Jew remained. Federal German authorities rebuilt the medieval Judengasse after WWII and the Rashi Chapel was also restored in December 1961.