Siegburg

Summary: Siegburg must have been home to a significant medieval Jewish community, as records from that period mention a synagogue, a mikveh and a cemetery. The modern Jewish community, whose roots can be traced to the 17th century, was one of the region’s most prominent during the early 19th century. Some Siegburg Jews were interned in a forced labor camp in Cologne, and others were moved into designated “Jews’ houses” before being deported to a camp in Munich and, later, to the East. Approximately 100 local Jews perished in the Shoah. In 1988, a memorial fountain built in the shape of a Star of David was erected in Siegburg. The cemetery contains a memorial plaque. The community’s first prayer room was located in Moshe Levi’s home on Holzgasse, which the community inherited after the owner’s death in 1782. In 1841, a small synagogue—the simple building featured a women’s balcony and large glass windows—was built at 26 Holzgasse, behind the community center and teacher’s residence; a mikveh was installed there in 1872, and we also know that the building accommodated a school. After the year 1900, when the building was placed under lease, the community used only its upper floor. Local Jews maintained a youth movement, a Talmud Torah school and a Chevro Ezrath Dllalim (a charitable association). Jews were represented on the municipal council and, in 1890, a local Jew was appointed chairman of the DDP (the German Democratic Party). In 1934, the Agudat Israel association set up an agricultural training program for potential immigrants to Palestine. Established in an old factory and presided over by teacher Selig Wolf, the program graduated approximately 200 youngsters from all over Germany, among them the founders of Kibbutz Hafetz Hayim in Israel; the training camp down closed in 1937. On Pogrom Night, members of the SS and SA burned down the synagogue; the community center and school were destroyed, as were six of the remaining 13 Jewish-owned stores. According to records, the synagogue’s ruins were cleared before the war’s end.

Author / Sources: Ruth Martina Trucks
Sources: EJL, FJG, LJG, SG-NRW