Archive of the Jewish Community Kreuzlingen Jüdische Gemeinde Kreuzlingen Archiv (1921-2009)

Copyright Holder: Eidgenössische Technische Hochschule Zürich. Archiv für Zeitgeschichte - Archivleitung The Israelite Community of Kreuzlingen, since 1965 Jewish Community of Kreuzlingen (Jüdische Gemeinde Kreuzlingen), was founded on 23 August 1939. In the spring of 1938, 91 Jewish adults with 17 children were counted in 43 households in Kreuzlingen. In 1939 the number of Jewish inhabitants rose to about 130 persons. There was a prayer room, a religious school and a cemetery. A rabbi or a Jewish teacher/ cantor of a church (Winterthur, Zurich) regularly came to Kreuzlingen to carry out religious tasks. After 1939, a first rabbi was appointed, Rabbi Dr. Lothar Rothschild from St. Gallen . He also took over the religious instruction of the Jewish children in in Kreuzlingen. The first president of the Jewish Community of Kreuzlingens was Albert Schwab (1939 to 1941), followed by Robert Wieler (1941 to 1952) and Herbert Dreifuss (1952 to 1976). In the time of the Second World War-following the deportation of the Baden Jews in October 1940 - the Jewish Community of in Kreuzlingen organized a great aid and moral support for the deportees. In the decades following the end of World War II, the Jewish community continued grow in Kreuzlingen. There were several Jewish associations in the village, such as Chevra Kadischa, a charity, a Jewish youth group (member of the Jewish youth organization Hanoar Haboneh) and a local group of WIZO. However, the number of Jewish community members decreased steadily, particularly as a result of the aging of the church and the move of Jews to larger cities. Around 1970, about 50 people belonged to the Jewish Community of Kreuzlingen. The services in the prayer room of the congregation were conducted on a voluntary basis. During the time of feasts, a preacher (Chasan) from another community was engaged. In the autumn of 1968, some Jewish families from Czechoslovakia at that time escaped to Switzerland and settled in in Kreuzlingen. In 1989 the 50th anniversary of the Jewish Community Kreuzlingen was celebrated; at that time, the church counted 17 members. In 2009 the 70th anniversary was celebrated. The latter was, however, under the sign of a partial dissolution of the church after the prayer room had to be given up in September 2009. Since 2009 the presidency of the small Jewish community was held by Dr. Rolf Hilb and Prof. Erhard Roy Wiehn. Jewish religious services and social gatherings, partly were held in private Jewish houses, or in the upper room of the "Bären" restaurant in Kreuzlingen. In January 1, 2016, the Jewish Community of Kreuzlingen was dissolved Records of the Jüdische Gemeinde Kreuzlingen (Jewish Community Kreuzlingen). The collection consists of reports, statutes, circulars, payment receipts, accounting records, various administrative correspondence, and executive correspondence with political authorities, Jewish associations, and Zionist associations; correspondence and other documents on refugee aid, Zionist efforts, welfare commission, Christian-Jewish associations, Jewish cemetery Kreuzlingen-Bernrain, School and Youth Commission, Jewish Women's Association of Kreuzlingen, Jewish communities in Basel, Bern, Genf, Luzern, St, Gallen, Winterthur, Zurich, documents on the Schweizerischer Jüdischer Fürsorgen, VSJF (Swiss Jewish Care), the Schweizerischer Israelitischer Gemeindebund, SIG (Swiss Federation of Jewish Communities), Rabbi Lothar Rothschild, and one film.