The Jewish
Community
of
La
Foreword
The publication of this commemorative book, which was
compiled by a team of members of
our historical society (”Gesellschaft für
Geschichte und Gedenken”, GGG) on a voluntary basis, although sadly coinciding
with the 70th anniversary of the
Night of Broken Glass (Reichskristallnacht),
is a fortunate event for local history: shortly before the passing away of the
last contemporary witnesses it has been possible to portray all the fates of
Jewish citizens and families in Laupheim of 1933,
leaving
an enduring memorial
as
a warning for the future and an attempted contribution to compensate for the
wrongs they suffered.
It is also fortunate that, for the first time in our local history, not just an
individual historian was involved, for professional or personal interests, but a
group of people gathered together as a team, under the guidance of the two
historians Dr. Antje Köhlerschmidt and Karl Neidlinger, persevering for six
years to produce an extensive work of almost 600 pages. This collective work
presents itself as a lasting reference book as well as an important compendium
for further investigations.
With this doubly momentous book our GGG is able to emphasize what has been its
primary purpose since its foundation and what its name is intended to express:
it wants to make history understandable through the specific destinies of
individuals and also aims to anchor them in our town by the example of the
eventful relationship between Christians and Jews. In addition it strives to
uphold and honor the memory of the exterminated Jewish population.
The Historical Society would like to thank all those who enabled this project,
the publishers, the authors, the town of Laupheim and the Oberschwäbische
Elektrizitätswerke for their support and also those involved in the provision of
material and the production of this work.
May this work leave its mark in the public conscience of our town and in our
hearts.
Laupheim,
September 2008
Elisabeth
Lincke
Chairwoman
of the Gesellschaft für Geschichte und Gedenken
Introductory by Ernest L. Bergmann
(†
Aug. 15. 2020)
At the age of fourteen I left Laupheim in 1936 and returned from the USA for
the first time in 1958 on a visit. I still found the Jewish cemetery, but no
Jewish person alive, and as I strolled around the town of my childhood,
somewhat yearning for the past, I realised painfully how many of the
enterprises had vanished and how many names had fallen into oblivion.
Standing at the market square I looked down the Mittelstrasse and pictured
the linen shop Hofheimer and opposite, the clothes manufacturer’s Heumann.
Up the hill leading from the square the tobacconist’s Einstein/Pauson and
further up the shoe shop Heumann and the Heumann Bank, and at the top of the
hill the Castle of Grosslaupheim, owned by the Steiner family.
Looking from the square along the Kapellenstrasse, an imposing start on the
right: the department store Einstein. Opposite this the Steiner tannery with
the tanning vats, then further on the inn “Zum Ochsen”, owned by the
landlord Sänger and his family. Diagonally opposite the large Laupheimer
house , in which the traditional butcher’s and the shoe shop Grab were to be
found. Then the limited partnership Kurz and the clothes shop Bach and the
grocer’s Adler with ware from overseas. On the other side the Steiner houses
and the hop warehouse and its grounds, followed by the house and stables of
the livestock dealer Nördlinger, the textile shop Wallach, further along and
on the other side again, the little shop (Lädele) of the Kirschbaum sisters,
the horse dealer Kahn and the inn “Zum Kronprinz”, and the hop warehouse
Löwenthal on the opposite side.
In the side streets also Jewish life was prevalent. At house number three in
the Bronnerstrasse, where I grew up, the residence of the tanner Steiner,
with its stables and its barn at the back, was still standing. The livestock
dealer Nathan lived opposite. On the other side there was the former Jewish
inn “Zur Sonne” with the forecourt to the synagogue and opposite, the Jewish
community centre, further on the livestock dealer Adler, the Jewish cemetery
and at the foot of the Bronner Berg the livestock dealer Stern.
On the slope of the Judenberg there lived on the right the soap manufacturer
Heilbronner, opposite the poultry trader and matzo baker Weiler, then came
the butcher’s Laupheimer, the Jewish mortuary, the entrance to the cemetery
and behind the cemetery the Jewish Fields.
In the Radstrasse there was the Volksbank Heumann, the Jewish primary school
and opposite the Bergmann house, where also the tobacco dealer Obernauer
lived, and behind it the extensive grounds of the hair factory. The
neighbours were the livestock dealer Friedberger and the oil and fat trader
Jonas Weil at the crossing with the Gartenstrasse. Further away on the
little stream Rottum was situated the Steiner Laupheim Tool Factory.
Since that first visit another 50 years have passed and even more has
changed. Old buildings have been renovated or demolished and new ones have
emerged. The entire Jewish Fields have been built upon, but the exceedingly
beautiful old Jewish cemetery still exists, thanks to Ernst Schäll and his
voluntary assistants, and the “Höhenanlage”, the park area on the Bronner
Berg, is still thriving: It is the result of Max Bergmann’s great commitment
in local politics.
The former Jewish inhabitants of Laupheim are not forgotten, and the memory
of them grows stronger and stronger. Today there is a Bergmannstrasse and a
Steinerstrasse, a Carl-Laemmle-Weg and a Friedrich-Adler-Weg. The town’s
large schools bear the names of these two men. Gretel Bergmann has been
immortalized in the sports grounds in Herrenmahd and many commemorative
plaques with Jewish names can be discovered in the town. Furthermore the
well-conceived and instructive Museum of Christian and Jewish History in the
old Castle of Grosslaupheim has been developed. It relates the story of the
peaceful co-existence of all the inhabitants over several centuries and
houses many personal documents of these families.
The political community of Laupheim is intent on not forgetting the past.
Both the very active “Gesellschaft für Geschichte und Gedenken”, as well as
the newly-founded “Freundeskreis des Museums zur Geschichte von Christen und
Juden“ have anchored the commemoration of Laupheim’s Jewish history in their
statutes.
Much has already been written about the Jewish inhabitants, their presence
and their solidarity with the municipality of Laupheim. It is highly
commendable that the authors of this work have embarked upon writing a
unique new book about all the former Jewish families of Laupheim. It must
certainly have been very difficult as there are only very few alive who have
knowledge of these former citizens. It has appeared at the last minute! The
key year 1933 is the starting point, when still about 250 Jewish citizens
lived here. In that year the German catastrophe began. In its wake some
managed to emigrate and today the descendants are scattered all over the
world, speak different languages and some have altered their names. But over
a hundred former citizens suffered the fate of deportation and they sadly
never saw their home town again. All their destinies are described in this
book. It aims to bring back the memory of them all. May it attract a large
number of readers!
9th
January 2008
Ernest
L. Bergmann (Ernst Leopold Bergmann)
Professor emeritus
State College, Pennsylvania, USA
