Huesten/Neheim-Huesten
General information: First Jewish presence: mid-17th century; peak Jewish population: unknown; Jewish population in 1933: 50 or 112 (sources of information differ)
Summary: Although records do not tell us when this community
reached its peak membership number, we do know that the
Jewish population figures for 1801 and 1925 were 37 and
87, respectively.
Records from 1801 mention a school, but it was not until
1825 that the Huesten community hired a teacher. Local Jews
conducted services in a private residence during the mid-19th
century. A synagogue—women sat in a designated gallery—
was inaugurated on Marktstrasse in 1905. According to
records, the Jewish cemetery, which had been consecrated in
Alt Huesten (on the corner of Mittelstrasse and Josefstrasse)
before 1857, was desecrated in 1924.
On Pogrom Night, SA troops destroyed the synagogue
and vandalized Jewish homes and stores. One month later,
in December 1938, the remaining Jewish-owned shops
were shut down. Between 1939 and 1941, a local branch of
the German Red Cross used the synagogue building as its
headquarters. Local Jews were taken to a quarantine camp
in March 1941, and were deported in May 1942. At least 85
Neheim-Huesten Jews perished in the Shoah. (Yad Vashem’s
record of the death toll for Neheim-Huesten includes Jews
from Neheim, Huesten and Neheim-Huesten, making
it difficult to determine how many of the deceased were
actually from Neheim-Huesten.)
Today, the former synagogue building serves as either
as an apartment building or a department store. As of this
writing, a memorial plaque has never been unveiled in the
town.
Author / Sources: Heidemarie Wawrzyn
Sources: EJL, FJG, HU, SG1933, SG-NRW, SIA, YV
www.derwesten.de
www.ursulahomann.de
Sources: EJL, FJG, HU, SG1933, SG-NRW, SIA, YV
www.derwesten.de
www.ursulahomann.de
Located in: north-rhine-westphalia