Luedinghausen
General information: First Jewish presence: 1807; peak Jewish population: 36 in 1865; Jewish population in 1933: 22
Summary: The Jewish community of Luedinghausen, established in
1856, served as the central community for all the nearby
Jewish settlements (although many maintained their own
synagogues and cemeteries) until that arrangement was
ended in 1919. In Luedinghausen prayer services were conducted in the
Auerbach family home until 1827, when the family joined
Jakob Adler in building a proper synagogue (it also housed
a schoolroom and an apartment for a teacher). From 1834
until 1836, and again from 1864 until 1873, the community
ran an elementary school.
In October 1938, shortly before Pogrom Night, the
wardens of the synagogue were arrested and its plot of land
confiscated. The synagogue was destroyed on November 10,
but it was not until 1960 that its ruins were cleared.
Those Jews who remained in Luedinghausen after the
pogrom were eventually deported, some to Riga in 1941,
the others to Theresienstadt in 1942. A memorial tablet lists
their names.
Author / Sources: Harold Slutzkin
Sources: LJG, SG-NRW
Sources: LJG, SG-NRW
Located in: north-rhine-westphalia