The history of the Jewish community in Heidelberg is marked by persecution and expulsion. It began in the 13th century when Jews first settled in the city. A synagogue was first mentioned in 1390, but in the same year Elector Ruprecht II expelled the Jews from the Palatinate. For this reason, there was no Jewish community in the city for almost three hundred years. The mountain cemetery where we are located was inaugurated in 1844. Due to lack of space and hygiene reasons, it was built outside the city limits. This new cemetery should radiate grace and friendliness as an alternative to the dreary appearance of old cemeteries. In 1876, the Jewish community finally moved its own cemetery to an independent burial ground not far from the Bergfriedhof. All Jewish tombstones are considered 'eternal resting places'. In the early days, the Jewish cemetery was geographically separate from the city burial grounds until it was enclosed by a series of extensions on either side of the rest of the cemetery. The persecution of the Jewish community finally reached its sad climax during the National Socialist era. The old synagogue, built in 1878 not far from the Marstallhof, was burned down in November 1938. On October 22, 1940, around 300 Heidelberg Jews were arrested and deported to the Gurs concentration camp in southern France. Most of the deportees died in the first winter from the catastrophic conditions on site; the survivors were transferred to Auschwitz in 1942. The remaining Heidelberg Jews were gradually arrested and deported, mostly directly to the extermination camps in the east. According to the city's ideas, the Jewish cemetery should ultimately give way to a public park. In March 1945, the Heidelberg Jewish community was almost wiped out; only a good third survived the Shoah. Just a few days after the Americans marched in, around 30 survivors returned from various concentration camps. There was also a considerable number of Jewish refugees from the East. Americans played a vital role in building the new church. They brought Jewish field chaplains from the US Army, so-called Chaplains, to the city and set up a prayer room on Klingenteichstrasse for displaced persons. Occupiers and Jewish survivors finally founded a synagogue with a community center in the Villa Julius (Häusserstraße 10-12), which was inaugurated by a chaplain. The steadily growing congregation (there were already 300 members in 1946/47) was led by US field chaplains for a few more years. The cemetery, which was completely destroyed after the end of the war, was initially only provisionally repaired. This changed in 1970 when serious restoration work began for the first time. The Villa Julius was demolished in 1976. However, it was not until 1992 that a new synagogue was built on the site.
In the Jewish faith, cemeteries are real "resting places for eternity" - quite different from what is usual in Germany (and many other countries), for example, where graves are only "bought" for a limited period of time, say 20 years, and then fall into disrepair.
Incidentally, men are asked to wear a head covering when entering a Jewish cemetery - provided it is open to the public - as a sign of respect for our "older brothers in the faith" (quote from Pope John Paul II).
Translated by Google •
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