ALT-BREISACH:
Ancient fortified city in the grand duchy of Baden, Germany; the scene of Jewish persecution.
In the fourteenth century, when the black death devastated the world (1348-51), this city, like that of Mayence, was the scene of a fearful massacre of the Jews, who were falsely accused of poisoning the public wells and thus causing the pestilence.
The total population in 1900 was 3,000, of whom about 450 were Jews. The community maintains fifteen benevolent foundations, and two sick-benefit associations.
Bibliography:
- Salfeld, Martyrologium d. Nürnberger Memorbuches, p. 284, Berlin, 1898;
- Hecker, Epidemics of the Middle Ages, ed. Sydenham Society, s.v.
