DISTRICT: Weissenburg-Gunzenhausen.
LOCATION OF CEMETERY: On the outskirts of Gunzenhausen, Leonhardsruhstrasse 15 (Detail)
IN USE: From 1875 until the around 1939.
NUMBER OF GRAVESTONES:
- About 41 gravestones scattered about, with 3 more embedded in the cemetery wall and another 8 in front of it.
DOCUMENTATION:
- Katharina Krug/Tobias Meister: The History of the Jewish Cemetery of Gunzenhausen: a full documentation including many photographs - a section of the exemplary school project undertaken by the Stephani-Volksschule Gunzenhausen: Jüdisches Leben in Gunzenhausen.
- Jüdische Friedhöfe in Bayern publ. Bayerisches Staatsministerium für Wissenschaft, Forschung und Kunst, Haus der Bayerischen Geschichte.
PUBLICATIONS:
- Israel Schwierz: Steinerne Zeugnisse jüdischen Lebens in Bayern - refer to Sources below.
- Michael Trüger: Der jüdische Friedhof Gunzenhausen, publ. Der Landesverband der Israelitischen. Kultusgemeinden in Bayern. 11. Jahrgang Nr. 72 March 1997 pages 22-30(Abstract).
NOTES:
- This community buried their dead in the Bechhofen cemetery. prior to having their own burial ground, which is enclosed by a substantial stone wall with an attractive wrought iron gate. The cemetery was extended after WW1. A mortuary near the entrance was converted into a private dwelling in 1945 and is now used by a cemetery caretaker. About 400-500 burials took place prior to the Nazi era. Most of the gravestones were removed during this period and disposed of locally, many being used for road construction and building purposes. Only 41 gravestones could be recovered after WW2, which were returned to the cemetery to be re-erected randomly.
- Desecration took place in December 1929, when 18 gravestones were demolished. The culprit was never caught.
- This very well maintained cemetery gives a park-like impression, with many deciduous trees.
- There is a memorial stone, erected in 1948, in honour and memory of the victims of the Nazi tyranny.
SOURCE: Alemannia Judaica and Schwierz, page 170 (Schwierz LBI).
(Researched and translated from German October 2009)