INGWILLER

INGWILLER, town in the Bas-Rhin department, E. France. Jewish settlement began in 1604, but by the end of the 17thcentury there were still only six families in the town. At the end of the 18th century, however, about 50 Jewish families lived in Ingwiller, and from 1776 they owned a synagogue. Nearly half of them were engaged in the livestock trade. During the middle of the 19th century the community reached its peak, with about 550 members, and began to erect a new synagogue. A primary school was opened in 1836 and a cemetery acquired soon after. From then on the community declined as a result of migration to larger towns and overseas. Under the German occupation of World War II, 12 Jews were deported from Ingwiller. In 1969 the community consisted of fewer than 100 persons. -BIBLIOGRAPHY: W. Guggenbuehl, Ingwiller (Ger., 1951), 121–5, 210; Z. Szajkowski, Analytical Franco-Jewish Gazetteer (1966), 249. (Bernhard Blumenkranz)