Essen-Steele
General information: First Jewish presence: 15th century; peak Jewish population: 247 in 1900; Jewish population in 1933: 96
Summary:
Steele’s 15th-century Jewish community was, at times,
affiliated with the larger community in Essen. It was not until
1878 that the Steele community earned autonomous status.
Beginning in 1791, local Jews conducted services in a
prayer room. A larger synagogue and a Jewish school were
established in 1802, and we also know that in 1883, the
community inaugurated a new synagogue—with a nearby
school—at Isinger Tor.
No tombstones remain from Steele’s first Jewish cemetery,
Am Knottenberg, which was in use from the 17th until
the 19th century. The new cemetery on Hiltrups Kamp,
consecrated in 1855, was used until 1943. On Pogrom Night, local SA and SS men set fire to the
synagogue and the school; both were later demolished. Between
1941 and 1943, Steele’s Jews were sent to the Holbeckshof
concentration camp, from where they were eventually deported
to the East. Approximately 50 local Jews perished in the Shoah.
A memorial plaque was later unveiled at 4 Isinger Tor;
at the synagogue site, the outline of the destroyed house of
worship has been etched into the pavement; and at the site of
the former Holbeckshof camp, an inscription honors those
who suffered there.
Author / Sources: Beate Grosz-Wenker
Sources: EJL, LJG, SG-NRW
Sources: EJL, LJG, SG-NRW
Located in: north-rhine-westphalia