The Jewish community of Schwarza

In 1846, about 287 Jews lived in Schwarza  a village with about 1500 non-Jews. This was the highest number of members of the Jewish community that had existed since the second half of the 1700s.

In 1840 a new synagogue had been built to accommodate the growth of the community; on 5 November 1841, when the new synagogue was dedicated, the event celebrated in the magazine Aus dem Hennebergischen, on 15 November.

“A beautiful demonstration of how the divide between people is increasingly disappearing in our time was provided by the inauguration ceremony held on 5 November of the tastefully constructed synagogue in Schwarza, a significant Jewish community in Prussian Henneberg. Thousands of Jews and Christians gathered from towns and villages near and far to witness this sacred ceremony. At 1 p.m., the local community went to the old synagogue to pray there for the last time…. After the prayer, the district rabbi, Dr. Adler of Kissingen, who had been specially invited for this celebration, ascended the pulpit and movingly explained to the community that this small house had always been their refuge in all situations of their lives and called on them to thank God for the great blessing of now being able to move into a house that had been so magnificently created by the master’s hand for the glorification of God. The impressive procession from the old to the new house of God was joined by a countless crowd in orderly rows, regardless of their faith. After the key to the synagogue had been handed over to the local official in the appropriate manner, its spacious halls opened to accommodate all those present.

The cemetery for the Jewish community had been established in the late 1600s. The last person buried was Sarah Rosskamm in 1936. Jewish cemetery in Schwarza. Source: Thüringen.info

*****

From the middle of the 19th century, however, the number of Jews in Schwarza declined steadily. In 1861, 161 Jews lived in Schwarza; in 1871, 71. In the first years of the 1900s, the number had declined to 31.

In 1933, when the Nazi regime began, 12 Jews remained in Schwarza. In 1938, when the synagogue was desecrated during the November pogrom, only seven Jews lived in the village. The last of them were deported in 1942: Irma Stern and her two daughters, Hanni, aged six and Susi, aged three, were deported on 10 May 1942 from Suhl to Belzyce ghetto in occupied Poland where they died. On 20 September 1942, Irma’s mother, Karoline Stern, née Morgenroth, was deported to Theresienstadt Ghetto. Schwarza was declared “free of Jews.”

•••••

In 1946, the name of the street earlier known as “Judengasse,” since most residents were Jewish, was changed to “Irma Stern Strasse.” Irma had lived in this street, and the synagogue had been there for nearly 100 years.

In spring 2024, Frank Möller, chairman of the Meiningen Bicycle Advisory Board, was cycling through Schwarza exploring possibilities for further expansion of the cycle path network in the district. The street sign caught his attention and he asked: “Why is Irma-Stern-Straße actually called Irma-Stern-Straße?”

In search of an answer to the question of who Irma Stern was, Frank Möller asked around in Schwarza. He consulted the local history society and visited the Heimatstube/local history museum, which also has a section dedicated to local Jewish history.

He also learned of the website dedicated to the 513 men, women, and children — among them Irma Stern and her daughters — who were deported in May 1942 to Belzyce Ghetto and contacted me. The next point of shared interest was the fate of Irma’s mother, Karoline Stern, née Morgenroth, who was deported to Theresienstadt Ghetto in September 1942. Like all adult Jews deported to Theresienstadt, she was forced to sign a “Home Purchase Contract” that handed over all her remaining assets to the government in the hope of receiving full care in the asset.

Since this initial contact, the conversation has broadened to include residents in Schwarza who wish to expand their knowledge of the Jewish community who once lived in the village, as well as descendants of Schwarza’s Jewish families who have learned of the activity.