Jewish community of Floß

The Jewish Community of Floß existed until 2 April 1942. It was located in the only Jewish ghetto in Bavaria, the Judenberg in Floß.

Background until the 16th century
It is likely that some Jewish families had already lived temporarily in Floß in the Middle Ages. In any case, Jews were already living in the vicinity of Floß in the 14th century, namely in Weiden, Neustadt an der Waldnaab, Pleystein, Eschenbach, Pfreimd, Luhe, Leuchtenberg and perhaps also in Vohenstrauß. In the tax book of 1416/1440, a Jewish tax of ten guilders per year is listed for each Jew living in the lordship of Floß and in the market town of Floß. In 1505, Floß was incorporated into the newly founded Wittelsbach principality of Young Palatinate. At that time, it was ruled by Elector Palatine Philip (Palatinate). In 1556, Elector Ottheinrich banned Jews from residing in the Electoral Palatinate, Upper Palatinate, and Palatinate-Neuburg (= Young Palatinate). The tax book of Flossenbürg and Floß from the end of the 16th century wrote about this expulsion of the Jews from the Palatinate (verbatim): "Since the Jews are currently not tolerated to reside in the Palatinate, no tax accrues from them, and none of them have a residence (property) in this lordship." Transit tolls were levied on traveling Jews: 14 pfennigs per pedestrian, 28 pfennigs per rider. From 1586: 15 kreuzers per pedestrian, 20 kreuzers per rider.

17th century
In 1614, part of the Young Palatinate became the newly founded Duchy of Palatinate-Sulzbach. Palatinate-Sulzbach included the districts of Sulzbach, Floß, and part of the Parkstein-Weiden district. In 1656, through the Principal Convention of Neuburg, Palatinate-Sulzbach became an independent, sovereign, and immediate territory of the Holy Roman Empire. This means that only from 1656 onward did the ruler of Palatinate-Sulzbach have actual supremacy over his territory. This ruler was Elector Palatine Christian August since 1632. Through the Principal Convention of Neuburg from 1656, he became Duke of Palatinate-Sulzbach. From this point on, Christian August could implement his own ideas in Palatinate-Sulzbach, even if they contradicted the rule in Bavaria and the Upper Palatinate. Unlike his peers, Christian August was a tolerant ruler and was interested in theology, Kabbalah (Jewish mysticism), and the Hebrew language. In his territories, he abolished the principle that subjects had to adopt their ruler's religion (cuius regio, eius religio). From then on, people in Palatinate-Sulzbach were free to choose their own religion. Additionally, Christian August allowed the settlement of Jews in the Duchy of Palatinate-Sulzbach. In 1666, some Jews who had fled from Vienna were allowed to settle in the residential town of Sulzbach. In 1669, Christian August supported them in establishing a Hebrew printing press, which became one of the most important Jewish printing presses in Europe until the 19th century. In 1672, an attempt by Jews expelled from Vienna to settle in Floß failed. They had submitted a petition to the ducal court in Sulzbach regarding this matter.

In 1684, Prince Ferdinand August von Lobkowitz expelled the Jews from Neustadt an der Waldnaab and dissolved the Jewish community there. In 1684, four Jewish families expelled from Neustadt an der Waldnaab settled in Floß. These were the brothers Enoch and Hirsch Maier, and the brothers Eysisch and Nathan Feyfaß, each with their families. They founded the Jewish community of Floß. Christian August granted permission for this, on the condition that they pay a certain sum of money annually as a protection fee. Initially, these four Jewish families lived in rented apartments in Floß. After their residence permit, which was valid for only one year, had expired, they were issued their first letter of protection in 1685. It mainly concerned Jewish commercial activities and their relationship with Christian craftsmen. Its exact wording can be read in the online book by Magnus Weinberg: Geschichte der Juden in der Oberpfalz: Herzogtum Sulzbach (Sulzbach u. Floss).

The Jews purchased an undeveloped field from the master tailor Johann Harrer. On May 10, 1687, they managed to obtain permission from the government in Sulzbach to build four houses on this field. So in 1687, they settled on Harrer's field, up on the northern bank of the Floß river, and built four houses there. Since this plot was leased from the Waldsassen monastery, the Jewish community had to pay annual tithes to this monastery. Until the mid-19th century, only Jews lived on this hill, no Christians. The settlement of Jews down in the market town of Floß was also prohibited until the mid-19th century. This hill, which was separated from the market town of Floß by an approximately 10-meter-high steep slope, was then called Judenberg. The first official mention of the Judenberg is from 1736. Thus, a purely Jewish ghetto was established on the Judenberg, which politically formed an independent community until 1870.

Due to the secluded and isolated location of the Jewish community of Floß, there were constant fierce disputes from the very beginning - between community members, between the community and its rabbis, between the community and the authorities, and between the Jewish community of Judenberg and the Christian community of the market town of Floß. The Jewish community of Floß was known for its combative nature. The details of these fights can be read online in Magnus Weinberg's book Geschichte der Juden in der Oberpfalz: Herzogtum Sulzbach (Sulzbach u. Floss). Nevertheless, there were always many applicants for the rabbinical position in Floß. Additionally, by 1804, almost all families were blood-related. Only when the isolation was lifted through the laws of 1861, 1868/69, and 1871, granting Jews freedom of settlement and occupation, did the situation begin to ease. Christians settled on the Judenberg, Jews moved down into the market town of Floß, and in 1893, the rabbi of the Jewish community of Floß, Israel Wittelshöfer, was even named an honorary citizen of Floß.

Until the beginning of the 19th century, Jews were prohibited from owning livestock, even chickens. They were not allowed to practice any craft and were not admitted to universities. Therefore, trade was their only means of earning a living. The Jews of Floß traded in wool, cloth, yarn, furs, hides, and agricultural products. To curb competition among Jewish families, a decree by the government in 1719 assigned each family a trading district. In some areas, even this trade was prohibited under pressure from the craft guilds.

In 1686, a mikvah (ritual bath) was built on Schiffgasse, which was expanded in 1730.

In 1692, the Jewish community acquired a burial ground on the eastern outskirts of Floß and surrounded it with a wall. From 1692, this site was used as a burial place not only for the Jews of Floß but also for Jews from Schönsee, Waidhaus, and Weiden. The cemetery was expanded in 1729, 1754, 1780, and 1806. In 1794, a Chevra Kadisha (burial society) was founded.

The Jews expelled from Neustadt had brought a Torah scroll with them. Initially, they held their services in a private room at Moses Hirschl's residence. Due to internal disputes within the Jewish community, Isak Bloch set up a rival synagogue in his house, which was then banned in 1700.

18th century
In 1705, the following were recorded as Jewish residents of Floß: Moyses Hirschl, Isackh Plockh, Eysig Feylas, Jacob Davidt, Natan Feylas (the names are given here in the original historical spelling, please do not "correct" them). By 1712, the Jewish community had grown to eight families. There were repeated government decrees prohibiting the expansion of the community. The aim was to reduce the number of Jews back to the number at the time of settlement. The Christian citizens of Floß also protested against the increasing number of Jews. Nevertheless, the number of Jews on the Judenberg continued to grow steadily, partly through natural increase and partly through immigration from Bohemia. In 1736, there was a rigorous ban on the purchase and new construction of additional houses by Jews. The Jews circumvented this by expanding and subdividing the existing houses for multiple families. Additionally, there were regulations that only one child per Jewish family could settle in Floß and that only single-family houses could be built. All these regulations were handled very leniently by the Sulzbach government and not really enforced. In 1745, some Jews expelled from Bohemia were admitted to Floß by the Sulzbach government. Even in legal disputes between Jews and Christians, the Jews were granted their rights by the courts.

From 1719 to 1722, a wooden synagogue was built. The construction costs amounted to 233 guilders. In 1723, residents of the market town of Floß made a blood libel accusation against the Jews on the Judenberg. Here is an example of the disputes between the Jewish community of Floß and its rabbis: Around 1768 during the time of Rabbi Jakob ben Moses Dörnberger, the following occurred: On the second day of a major religious festival, a ball was held by a Jewish group, with both genders together. Rabbi Jakob was deeply outraged by such an unprecedented outrage for that time, and he excommunicated the main offenders. In response, the members of the Jewish community of Floß protested so vigorously that the rabbi was forced to lift the excommunication. Even in 1927, the chronicler Magnus Weinberg still sided with Rabbi Jakob in this story. In 1794, the Jewish community of Floß built a rabbi's residence despite the vehement protest of the Catholic parish priest and the Christian community of Floß.

19th century
Elector Maximilian, together with his First Minister Montgelas, strove for an efficient and modern state administration in Bavaria. As part of these efforts, he called upon the Upper Palatinate districts to make proposals for improving the civil conditions of the Jews. In 1800, there were 42 Jewish households in Floß. The Floß district office made the following proposals, among others:
 * Introduction of public German schools with standard curriculum
 * Training of Jewish elementary school teachers
 * Prohibition of keeping trade books in Hebrew
 * Obligation for Jewish youths to go on journeyman travels
 * Transfer of individual Jews to places where an increase in residents or professions is desired
 * Equality of their rights and duties with other citizens
 * Abolition of their separate jurisdiction
 * Setting a minimum age for marriage
 * Allocation of lands to them for cultivation and working
 * Restriction on the number of wandering beggar Jews
 * Conscription (military service obligation)
 * Accustoming the women to housekeeping
 * Holding sermons in German instead of Hebrew

Since their settlement in 1684, an annual protection fee was levied on each member of the Jewish community, which was perceived as a considerable oppression and led to many disputes within the community and with the authorities. In 1808, this protection fee was abolished by the Amberg financial directorate. However, a fee of 87 guilders 40 kreutzers was now ordered for every acceptance of a Jew as a citizen.

Whereas Jews had previously been prohibited from building new houses, from the beginning of the 19th century it was seen as an advantage in approving a protection request if they built their own house. The aim was for each family to have their own hearth, or even better, an entire house. In 1808, the serving Rabbi Horowitz established a register of births, marriages and deaths on the orders of the authorities. This was now maintained as an officially recognized register.

The legal rights of the rabbis were restricted. They retained decision-making authority only for disputed objects up to 15 guilders. From 1809 onwards, the basis for their decisions was the new Bavarian judicial constitution.

Education system
Baron von Lichtenstern worked energetically to improve living conditions in Floß and on the Judenberg. In his opinion, the lack of education was the cause of the many internal disputes. He founded the Jewish elementary school in 1810. Specifically, in addition to the local Catholic teacher in Floß, a teaching assistant was hired on 31 March 1812 for the Catholic school. From then on, the 115 to 120 Catholic children received instruction for some hours during the day, and the Jewish children for some hours - there were 14 boys and 23 girls. The Jewish community declined the offer to hire a Jewish elementary school teacher, preferring to have a Christian teacher instead. A room in the Podewils Palace was rented for the instruction of the Jewish children. At some point, the Christian children's lessons also took place there. In 1814, the community of Floß built a school building, in which a classroom was also made available for the Jewish children. At the request of the Jewish community, the Jewish children were taught by a Christian teacher. It was not until 1878 that they got a Jewish teacher. The Jewish elementary school was dissolved on 1 September 1921 because it had too few students.

In 1824 there was a religion school, and from 1878 to 1921 there was an Israelite elementary school. In 1812, there were four private teachers in the Jewish community of Floß.

New synagogue construction
In 1813, Floß was hit by a great fire that also claimed the wooden synagogue and many houses on the Judenberg. Seven Torah scrolls were rescued from the fire.

The Neustadt district judge Karl Franz Reisner Freiherr von Lichtenstern (1776–1866) united state power in his person. He used this fullness of power to rebuild Floß in a modern way. Through rigorous expropriation of land, he created a new, well-arranged town structure with wide, straight streets and a clear division. He only allowed brick houses to be built in order to minimize the fire hazard. Together with his architect Johann Daniel Tauber, he also planned the new development of the Judenberg. For the burned-down wooden synagogue, he had a new brick synagogue built according to plans by the architect Johann Daniel Tauber. This construction cost the Jewish community 12,000 guilders and was completed in 1817. There were hard struggles over a liturgically motivated extension, a so-called pallisch. This synagogue anteroom was built by the Jewish community as part of these struggles, demolished by the local government, then rebuilt under the protection of the district government. Finally, it was completely demolished by the Nazis during Kristallnacht 1938 and not rebuilt during the restorations in 1980 and 2005.

Of course, Lichtenstern made many enemies for himself through his rigorous approach. The Jews of Floß would have preferred to build a cheap and simple synagogue to save money. Today (2016), however, the main street of Floß is called "Freiherr-von-Lichtenstern-Strasse". The people of Floß enjoy their beautiful, light-filled town, and the synagogue on the Judenberg, visible from afar, also finds many admirers. The synagogue and the entire former Judenberg ghetto are protected buildings and are considered an "ensemble of European importance".

Incorporation of the Judenberg community into the Floß community
The Bavarian Jewish Edict of 1813 improved the legal status of the Jews of Floß. However, their number was now restricted and was even supposed to be reduced through the Matriculation Paragraph. Regulations concerning the amount of the dowry, the marriageable age, and the judicial office of the rabbis were abolished. The 64 Jewish families living in Floß at that time had to choose family names for themselves and were registered with these, their profession, number of children, and assets. The quota for Floß was then set at 40 Jewish families, but nevertheless the number of Jewish families rose to 72 families and 20% of the total population of Floß by 1842.

The Jewish community on the Judenberg formed an independent political municipal community with its own public institutions. It had to pay for its own night guards, fire brigade and poor relief. It had its own house numbering system. It had to pay for the paving of its streets and the maintenance of a section of the vicinal road. Until 1817, it had to submit its community accounts annually for inspection to the General Commissariat in Bayreuth. In 1819, the ministry learned of the political community of Judenberg from a report by the district court. On orders from the ministry, the Jewish community was dissolved and incorporated into the market town of Floß. The Jews of Floß were happy with this arrangement, but the Christian population of Floß was not. Due to the ongoing protests from the Christian community of Floß, the decision was reversed in 1824, and the Judenberg again became an autonomous political community. Only the police administration of Floß also applied to the Judenberg. In 1841, a "Judenberg locality" with 42.5 houses was recorded in the property tax cadastre and the land, salt, and storage book of the tax municipality of Floß. It was not until 1851 that two Jewish residents managed to settle in the Christian part of Floß. This Bavarian Jewish ghetto of Judenberg existed as a politically autonomous community contrary to all other regulations of the Bavarian government until 1870. In 1870, the Judenberg was finally incorporated into Floß.

Upswing from the mid-19th century
From 1810 to 1861, the Jewish community of Floß reached its peak in numbers with 72 families - over 300 people - and a share of more than 22% of the total population of Floß. This large number of Jews caused fears among the Christian residents of Floß. However, shortly thereafter the wave of emigration to North America began, and within 10 years the number of Jewish families had decreased by a third.

With the complete civil equality of Jews in 1871, an exodus to larger cities began. The economic situation of the remaining Jews improved. Christians bought houses on the Judenberg and Jews settled in the market town of Floß. The situation eased and there was good and friendly rapport between Jews, Catholics, Protestants, and also with the authorities. This development culminated in 1893 with the appointment of Rabbi Israel Wittelshöfer as an honorary citizen of Floß. However, no Christian-Jewish marriage ever took place in Floß.

In 1851, Floß became a district rabbinate, and Rabbi Israel Wittelshöfer became the district rabbi. Since 1851, he had been the head of the Jewish community of Sulzbach as part of the Floß district rabbinate. The Jewish communities of Amberg, Cham, and Weiden joined this district rabbinate. Additionally, he cared for individual Jewish families in Erbendorf, Tirschenreuth, Mitterteich, Waldsassen, Waidhaus, Kemnath, Windischeschenbach, Teunz, Schönsee, and Frankenreuth.

In 1874, the house Judenberg No. 31 was set up as a community and rabbi's residence.

Israel Wittelshöfer was the last rabbi of Floß. When he died in 1896, there were fewer than 73 Jews in Floß. The Jewish community of Floß was initially assigned to the Bayreuth rabbinate and then to the Regensburg district rabbinate headed by Magnus Weinberg.

1900 to 1945
In 1902, the Jewish community of Floß had 10 male members from Floß itself and 29 from elsewhere. Even during the Weimar period, there were anti-Semitic incidents and cemetery desecrations in Floß. The Nazis found enthusiastic followers in Floß, such as Richard Baer, the commandant of Auschwitz concentration camp. Beginning in 1933, there were calls to boycott Jews, intimidation of customers of Jewish businesses, children incited by teachers who threw stones at Jews, and other hostilities. Non-Jewish citizens who were friends with Jews and supported them were massively intimidated. In view of these conditions, it was very courageous of the Jewish community of Floß to celebrate its 250th anniversary in 1934. During Kristallnacht in 1938, the Jewish families of Floß, Ansbacher, Eisemann, Steinhardt, and Wilmersdörfer were brutally mistreated by the Nazis, imprisoned, and two men were sent to the Dachau concentration camp. Of the 27 Jews still living in Floß in 1933, 15 people were able to emigrate by 1942, two died, and six moved to other places. Some of the emigrants and five of those who had moved away were caught and murdered by the Nazis. On 2 April 1942, the two last Jewish couples remaining in Floß were deported to Piaski near Lublin and to the Theresienstadt concentration camp, where they were murdered.

1945 to present
In total, 29 Jews from Floß were murdered by the Nazis. One Jew from Floß survived the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp, but contracted a severe illness there, to which he succumbed in 1951 in Kibbutz Ginegar in Israel.

90 Jews came to Floß as Displaced Persons in 1945. They formed a new Jewish community, gathering to pray in the home of the deported Jewish couple Karoline and Hugo Wilmersdörfer. On a farm, they set up a kibbutz where they prepared for their emigration to Israel. Of these 90 Jews, all left Floß again except for one single Jew who married a Floß girl. But even he moved to Munich in 1956.

In 1997, the Jewish cemetery in Floß was desecrated, with 44 gravestones toppled over.

In 1999, a detailed concept for a Jewish museum in Floß was created at the University of Bayreuth, to be housed in the Old Nursinghome Palace and its historically valuable outbuildings. This Jewish museum was intended to provide access, in conjunction with the memorial at the former Flossenbürg concentration camp, for school classes and interested tourists to the relatively well-preserved evidence of Jewish life in Floß, namely the former Jewish ghetto of Judenberg, the synagogue, and the Jewish cemetery. This project petered out, and the Old Nursinghome Palace in Floß today (2016) houses a music school in some rooms on the ground floor, while the upper floor remains empty. The historically valuable outbuildings are used as garages and storage rooms.

The synagogue in Floß, renovated in 1970 and 2005, is cared for by the Jewish community of Weiden. Occasional services are held here, and exhibitions are planned.

Rabbis in Floß
The rabbi of Sulzbach served the Jewish community in Floß until 1736. From 1736 to 1894, Floß was the seat of a local rabbinate. List of rabbis in Floß:
 * 1736–1767 Salomon ben David
 * 1767–1771 Jakob ben Moses Dörnberger from Derenburg in Saxony-Anhalt
 * 1772–1790 Elieser Veit Petschauer from Bohemia
 * 1791–1799 Isaak ben Secharja Fränkel
 * 1800–1813 David Hessel Horowitz Rabbi, Cantor and Shochet in Floß
 * 1813–1840 Moses Wittelshöfer from Baiersdorf
 * 1840–1896 Israel Wittelshöfer, son of Moses Wittelshöfer, last rabbi in Floß

Prominent members of the Jewish community of Floß

 * Joseph Schwarz (1804–1865), born in Floß, geographer and rabbi. He moved to Palestine in 1833 and dedicated himself to exploring the Holy Land.
 * David Ludwig Bloch (1910–2002), born in Floß, emigrated to Shanghai in 1940 and moved to the US in 1949. He was a porcelain painter and lithographer and was named an honorary citizen of Floß two years after his death.