Wuerzburg, in the German State of Bavaria, had a Jewish population that numbered approximately 2,000 during the Nazi regime, which was only 2% of the city’s overall population. About two-thirds of the city’s Jews worked in trade, and they established flourishing communities throughout the district. The Jews of Wuerzburg supported numerous charity organizations, and the Zionist movements, in particular the youth movements, were highly active in the city.
From the beginning of Nazi rule the city’s Jews were attacked, and they suffered both personal injury and damage to their property. On Kristallnacht the Jewish community was dealt a heavy blow when approximately 300 Jews were deported to concentration camps. About 1,400 German Jewish refugees and exiles made their way to Wuerzburg.
In preparation for the carrying out of the “Final Solution”, Jews from the region were deported to Wuerzburg. In late 1941, approximately 1,200 Jews were deported from Wuerzburg to the Riga Ghetto in Latvia. Throughout the following year practically all of the remaining Jews in Wuerzburg were deported to the Lublin district in Poland and to Terezin.
On 17 June 1943, 64 of the remaining Jews in the German city of Wuerzburg were deported. 7 were sent to Terezin and 57 were deported to Auschwitz. This document is a letter sent by the Gestapo to the Mayor of Wuerzburg, notifying him that an income tax form in the name of Klara Blechner, one of the deported Jews, has been sent, and requesting confirmation of receipt of said form. The letter was presumably sent as part of the process of seizing Blechner's property. Klara apparently lived in one of the towns in the area, either Trappstadt or Koenigshofen. She is referred to in the document as Klara Sara, in accordance with the law passed in Germany a few years prior, requiring that Jewish women add the name Sara to their names to facilitate their identification as Jews.
After the deportation of 17 June 1943, only 29 Jews remained in Wuerzburg. These Jews were protected from deportation as a result of their marriages to Aryans.
A Page of Testimony was submitted in memory of Klara Blechner by her grandson.
Yad Vashem Photo Archives 1350
Reserve your Visit
Online Store
Support Us
