BRUCHSAL

BRUCHSAL, town in baden , Germany. The first mention of Jews there dates from 1288. In 1337 the bishop of speyer granted them the right of domicile for an annual payment of 700 marks. The community was annihilated during the black death , 1348–49. After a long interval Jews again settled in Bruchsal, but were persecuted during the reformation . A prayer room is first mentioned in 1672. The synagogue, built in 1881, was restored in 1923. Between 1886 and 1928, 641 children were educated in the orphanage founded by J. Eschelbacher . A Jewish district school was opened in 1935–36. Violent anti-Jewish riots occurred in Bruchsal during the March Revolution of 1848. The Jewish population numbered 128 in 1814, and 752 in 1885 (6.2% of the total); it had diminished to 501 in 1933, but there were still six benevolent societies. On Nov. 11, 1938, the synagogue was burned down. By 1939 the community had declined to 166 in the wake of flight and emigration. Of those who remained 79 were deported to the gurs concentration camp in 1940. The community no longer exists. -BIBLIOGRAPHY: Germ Jud, 2 (1968), 135–6; G. Taddey and F. Hundsnurscher, Die Juedischen Gemeinden in Baden (1968); FJW (1932/33). ADD. BIBLIOGRAPHY: Synagoge Bruchsal 1881–1938 (2000).