GUEBWILLER

GUEBWILLER, town in the Haut-Rhin department, E. France. In 1270 there was a community of at least 10 families in the town; from 1330 or earlier they owned a synagogue. However the community ceased to exist after the black death persecutions (1348–49). Jews did not reappear in Guebwiller until the beginning of the 17th century. Their numbers did not grow to any extent until the 19th century (about 80 families in 1870), but subsequently declined once more. Several Jews from Guebwiller were deported by the Nazis. In 1969 a small community again existed. The present Rue des Tonneliers was formerly known as Rue des Juifs. -BIBLIOGRAPHY: E. Scheid, Histoire des Juifs d'Alsace (1887), 107, 136, 249; C. Wetterwald, Strassennamen von Gebweiler (1928), 32; Z. Szajkowski, Analytical Franco-Jewish Gazetteer (1966), 251; Germ Jud, 2 (1968) 270–1. (Bernhard Blumenkranz)