International Jewish Cemetery Project
International Association of Jewish Genealogical Societies

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HAINSFARTH: 86744 Bavaria, Swabia (Gerz, Peters).

DISTRICT: Donau-Ries.

LOCATION OF CEMETERY:  At Jurastrasse 43.

IN USE: From 1850 until 1939.

NUMBER OF GRAVESTONES: 272.

DOCUMENTATION:

PUBLICATIONS:

NOTES:

  • Prior to having their own burial ground in 1850, this community used the cemetery in Wallerstein, necessitating a 4-hour journey. A mortuary was constructed in 1851 and, a few years later, an adjoining storage building was erected to accommodate a hearse at street level and various items of community furniture on the 1st floor. A wall enclosing the cemetery came into being in 1862.
  • Various instances of desecration and vandalism occurred during the Nazi epoch, such as during the pogrom night in November 1938 as well as subsequently. The hearse was severely damaged by having been torched and the windows of the mortuary were broken.
  • The US army of occupation confiscated the cemetery in 1946 from the Hainsfarth local authority, who had compulsorily accquired it in 1943. Cemetery restoration began in 1946/47 at the expense of the Hainsfarth local authority. The restoration involved the re-erection as well as partial repair of uprooted gravestones. 1948 saw the repair of damage to the mortuary as well as more repairs to gravestones. In 1953 the storage building was renovated and converted into a private dwelling. The mortuary as well as the renovated house were sold to a private buyer in 1955. Finally, in 2004, both buildings were renovated once more and sold privately.
  • The cemetery is well maintained.

SOURCE: Alemannia Judaica and Schwierz, page 257-258 (Schwierz LBI).

(Researched and translated from German October 2009)

 

UPDATE: [September 2013] Photos of the Jewish Cemetery are available here. (http://www.panoramio.com/group/253305)