Steele

Summary: According to local records, a Jewish family in Steele received a four-year building permit in 1491. Jews were, however, expelled from the area soon afterwards, and it was not until the end of the 18th century—prior to which individual Jews had lived there, but never as a community—that Jews were officially permitted to return to the town. The independent Jewish community of Steele was founded on January 1, 1879. Services were conducted in prayer rooms until 1791, when the Jews of Steele rented a building on Kaiser Otto Platz for use as a synagogue. On June 21, 1883, the congregation moved from the dilapidated structure to a new synagogue on Isinger Strasse. We also know that the community maintained a Jewish school and, after 1885, a cemetery at Hiltrops Kamp. As early as 1934, Nazi supporters smashed windows in the synagogue. Later, on Pogrom Night (November 1938), the synagogue and Jewish school were burned down. In April 1942, the town’s remaining 32 Jews were deported to Izbica, Poland. According to Yad Vashem, at least 68 local Jews died in the Shoah. A memorial plaque was later unveiled at the former synagogue site.

Author / Sources: Benjamin Rosendahl
Sources: EJL, SG-NRW, YV
www.essen.de
www.frida-levy-gesamtschule.de
www.steeler-archiv.de