Bad Nauheim, Germany

BAD NAUHEIM, Hesse, Germany. The first Jews living in the medieval village of Nauheim were expelled in the Black Death persecutions of 1349-49 and again in 1539. Unfair taxation known as Schutzgeld or ”protection money” slowed the community’s growth until 1830. The discovery of medicinal waters transformed Nauheim into an expanding health resort (renamed “Bad” Nauheim) and led to the opening of guesthouses for Jews visiting the spa. The community, numbering 67 in 1880, grew to 119 in 1900 after many Jewish physicians, lawyers and businessmen took up residence there. Between 1880-1935 the number of Jewish physicians rose to 50. Their successful treatment of heart disease made Bad Nauheim famous and attracted patients from all over the world. The religiously orthodox community numbered 290 in 1925; it maintained a flourishing social and cultural life, with branches of major organizations (e.g. the Central Union, Jewish war Veterans Association, and German Zionist Organization). Following the anti Jewish boycott of 1 April 1933, Jews, particularly doctors, started to emigrate. On Kristallnacht (9-10 November 1938) the Synagogue was partly destroyed. 138 subsequently emigrated, 190 moved to other places in Germany, about 10 committed suicide and 96 were eventually deported. The revived community numbered 100 in 1988.