Nine desecrations of outlying Jewish cemeteries were discovered by Max Gruenfeld, chairman of the community at nearby Mains, in the course of an inspection tour of surrounding small towns where no Jews now live.
Mr. Gruenfeld found desecrations at Appenheim, Bodenheim, Dromersheim, Ebersheim, Essenheim, Gau-Odernheim, Gensingen, Heidenheim and Soergenloch. While it is difficult to determine with certainty the dates on which the vandals committed the desecrations, various clues indicate they could not have been long ago in any of the nine cases.
At Ebersheim sixteen gravestones were torn from their sockets and defaced. Prior to visiting that cemetery, Mr. Gruenfeld called on the local mayor. The official knew of the anti-Jewish act, but had not bothered to report it either to the police or to the Jewish community.
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