Herne

Summary: Jews lived in Herne in the mid-18th century, but their presence there was temporary, and it was not until the beginning of the 19th century that Jewish families settled there permanently. The community grew slowly but steadily, peaking at 530 members in 1923. Local Jews were affiliated with the community in Bochum until 1889, when they formed their own synagogue community. In or around 1890, prior to which congregants had met in a prayer room, services were moved to the newly established Jewish school. Herne was also home to a Jewish cemetery, consecrated on Emscherweg (present-day Hoverskamp) in or around 1879. In 1911, the community inaugurated a synagogue at 32 Schaeferstrasse. Eastern European Jews, of whom there were many in Herne, conducted their own prayer services. In 1933, 48 schoolchildren attended the Jewish elementary school; 22 pupils received religious instruction. Active in the community were a Jewish women’s association and a branch of the Chewra Gemilus Chesed (founded there in 1900), both of which conducted welfare work. In March 1933, around which time the anti-Jewish boycott was implemented, anti-Semitic riots erupted in Herne. Later, in October 1938, 50 Eastern European Jews were expelled from the city. On Pogrom Night, the synagogue was burned down, Jewish homes and shops were ransacked, windows were smashed and Jewish men were arrested. The synagogue’s ruins were torn down in 1939; after the war, a health insurance company erected a building there. In May 1939, 189 Jews still lived in Herne. Those who did not leave in time were deported between 1942 and 1943. At least 248 Herne Jews were murdered in the Shoah. After the war, several survivors returned to Herne. A memorial plaque, unveiled at Neumarkt in 1949, was moved to the cemetery on Hoverskamp in 1959; and in 1964, another plaque was unveiled at the former synagogue site. The Jewish cemetery was desecrated in 1975 and again in 1979. Founded in 1999, the new Jewish community of Bochum- Herne-Hattingen numbered over 1,000 members in 2005.

Author / Sources: Heidemarie Wawrzyn
Sources: EJL, FJG, HU, LJG, SIA