• Former Rural Synagogue of Roth
Since 1998, a memorial at the former rural synagogue of Roth has honoured the fate of the Jews from the Marburg-Biedenkopf county during the Holocaust. The SS deported many of the town's Jewish residents to the Theresienstadt and Riga ghettos in 1941/1942.
Image: Roth, 1980s, Interior prior to restoration, Bildarchiv Foto Marburg
Roth, 1980s, Interior prior to restoration, Bildarchiv Foto Marburg

Image: Roth, 2002, Southwest facade of the restored building, Landesamt für Denkmalpflege Hessen, Christine Krienke
Roth, 2002, Southwest facade of the restored building, Landesamt für Denkmalpflege Hessen, Christine Krienke
The Hessian township of Roth – today a district of Weimar (Lahn) – was a centre of Jewish life in the 18th century. 13 Jewish families lived here around 1737. Until 1870, the village was the seat of the Roth, Fronhausen and Lohra synagogue community. Apart from the synagogue, Roth was also home to a religious school for the children of Jewish families. The Jewish community had over 30 members around 1933. After the National Socialists took power in Germany, Roth too became the scene of violent attacks of members of the NSDAP against Jews. During the »Kristallnacht« in November 1938, members of the NSDAP broke into the Roth synagogue and destroyed its interior completely. The building was not set on fire in order to protect the neighbouring farmhouses. At the beginning of 1939, the authorities forced the Jewish community to sell the synagogue. Residents of Roth then used the building as a carpenter's shop and later for grain storage. Several of the Jewish residents had emigrated to the US and to South Africa by then. The 15 Jews who had remained in Roth were deported to the Theresienstadt and Riga ghettos by the SS.
Image: Roth, 1980s, Interior prior to restoration, Bildarchiv Foto Marburg
Roth, 1980s, Interior prior to restoration, Bildarchiv Foto Marburg

Image: Roth, 2002, Southwest facade of the restored building, Landesamt für Denkmalpflege Hessen, Christine Krienke
Roth, 2002, Southwest facade of the restored building, Landesamt für Denkmalpflege Hessen, Christine Krienke
In 1941/1942, the SS deported the 15 Jewish residents of the village to the Theresienstadt and Riga ghettos. None of them survived the Holocaust. Three Jewish families from Roth saw themselves forced to emigrate in order to escape National Socialist repressions.
Image: Roth, 2004, Exhibition of works by Ulrike Siebel at the memorial, Otto
Roth, 2004, Exhibition of works by Ulrike Siebel at the memorial, Otto
Between 1990 and 1998, the derelict synagogue building was restored in several steps. In 1995, the district committee of the county of Marburg-Biedenkopf purchased the building for a symbolic price. The district committee then made the renovation of the synagogue's interior possible, which was adapted for exhibition purposes. Many traces of the damages inflicted upon the synagogue were left in their original state. In 1996, the women's bath, the mikvah, was partially uncovered as part of a school project. In 1997, the county transferred the use of the building to the »Working Group Rural Synagogue of Roth«. Its goal is to preserve the memory of the Jews who were murdered, and to cultivate contacts with surviving members of the former Jewish community. The association now uses the former synagogue as an educational and cultural centre. In 2006, the members of the »Working Group Rural Synagogue of Roth« were awarded the first ever support Prize for Hessian Local History.
Image: Roth, 2002, Southwest facade of the restored building, Landesamt für Denkmalpflege Hessen, Christine Krienke
Roth, 2002, Southwest facade of the restored building, Landesamt für Denkmalpflege Hessen, Christine Krienke

Image: Roth, 2002, Interior after restoration, Landesamt für Denkmalpflege Hessen, Christine Krienke
Roth, 2002, Interior after restoration, Landesamt für Denkmalpflege Hessen, Christine Krienke
Name
Ehemalige Landsynagoge Roth
Address
Lahnstraße 27
35096 Weimar/Lahn
Phone
+49 (0)6421 340 0051
Web
http://www.synagoge-roth.de
E-Mail
info@landsynagoge-roth.de
Open
May to September: 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. on the first and third Sunday of each month and by appointment.
Possibilities
Guided tours, readings, joint projects with schools and the University of Marburg (writing workshop, educational materials for teachers, display of school projects), cultural events on the theme of Judaism in the Middle Ages