Historical Jewry in Zürich

I just finished reading a fabulous history book by Riccardo Calimani entitled “The Venetian Ghetto: the history of a persecuted community.”  It makes a single reference on a single page to a Jewish community in the Middle Ages in the city where I live, Zürich.  Curious about this neighborhood, I decided to see what I could find.

It seems almost nothing remains of this area of the city, except a single small alley way named Synagogengasse (or Synagog Alley in German)

And a small placque that describes the street I was on (Froschaugasse) was the center of the Jewish community before a series of pograms decimated the community.

Here’s a close-up of the placque:

I have no intention of translating – it’s abominable to think what happened during the Middle Ages and later periods to follow. There’s still so many things about this period of history I just don’t know – but I find it WONDERFUL that with a bit of Internet surfing and an interest in history, you can easily find places like this.