Wallerstein

General information: First Jewish presence: late 13th century; peak Jewish population: 296 in 1811/12 (14% of the total population); Jewish population in 1933: 16

Summary: Wallerstein’s Jewish cemetery was established in or around the
year 1510. The village, in which a rabbinate was headquartered
from the 16th century until 1882, produced many renowned
rabbis, among them Rabbi Moshe Levi Heller, referred to
at the time as the “rabbi for the whole of Germany,” and his
grandson, the famous Mishna commentator Rabbi Yom Tov
Lippmann Heller (1579-1654).
The community’s old synagogue and mikveh, located in the
Judenhof (“Jews’ yard”), were demolished in 1804, after which,
in 1807, a new synagogue was inaugurated in Wallerstein. Until
the early 20th century, the community employed a teacher of
religion who also served as chazzan and shochet.
By 1933, only one child studied with a teacher who
commuted to the village. Later, on Pogrom Night, the
synagogue was attacked, its interior
and ritual objects were destroyed.
Two Wallerstein Jews emigrated,
four relocated within Germany
and three died in Wallerstein. In
1942, the village’s remaining six
Jews were deported to Piaski and to
Theresienstadt. At least 11 Wallerstein
Jews perished in the Shoah.
A large section of the Jewish
cemetery was destroyed during the
Nazi period. After 1945, the former
synagogue housed a cinema; and in
1979, the building was demolished,
after which a bank was built on the
site. The design of the new structure
incorporated the outline of the
former synagogue.

Photo: The synagogue of Wallerstein. Courtesy of: The Central Archives for the History of the Jewish People, the Harburger Collection, P160/9.