Description

The small town of Alzey, Germany (population 10,000), is located about 15 miles south of the industrial city of Mainz. It is a well-known wine center, and several hilltop vineyards can be seen from the town center.

Alzey has a castle dating from the 16th century that is today a boys' orphanage. It is located on a hilltop a short walk from Alzey's center, but is not open to visitors because of its status as an orphanage.

The Third Reich and the Holocaust not only affected the big German cities, but also affected even the smallest towns and villages, and Alzey is a good example.

Before 1938, there was a small Jewish population in Alzey, and there was also a synagogue near the center of town. On November 9-10, 1938, the Kristallnacht (Night of Broken Glass) pogrom happened all throughout Germany in retaliation for a Jewish refugee shooting a German diplomat in Paris. Alzey's synagogue, along with many other synagogues in Germany, was destroyed during this time.

After 1941, all of Alzey's Jewish population was deported to Auschwitz and other German concentration camps. Most of them perished in the gas chambers or from starvation and disease.

Today, at the site of the original synagogue, there's a plaque listing the names of all the Jewish residents of Alzey who perished during the Holocaust. I found it very moving, and my friend Evelyn said that her ex-in-laws still don't believe that the Holocaust happened and supported Hitler when he was in power.