Wuppertal-Elberfeld

Summary: Wuppertal’s first known Jew, Issac Meyer, is mentioned in records from 1694, but the guilds prevented Jews from residing there permanently until 1806, when the French conquered the area and introduced new citizens’ rights, which also applied to Jews. The Jewish community in the town of Elberfeld merged with that in the town of Barmen (both towns were near Wuppertal) in 1847, separated from it 50 years later and merged with it yet again in 1929, when the towns of Elberfeld and Barmen were incorporated into the city of Wuppertal. Prominent local Jews included the following: renowned poet and essayist Else Schueler (later Else Laske-Schueler); Leonard Tietz, owner of the Kaufhof department store chain; and Zionist intellectual Moses Hess (1812-1875). In 1903, a Jew—his name is unknown—was elected to the municipal council for the first time. The Jews of Elberfeld used prayer halls in private residences until Rabbi Levy Kleelberg inaugurated a new liberal synagogue on Genuegsamkeitsstrasse. In the early 20th century, Orthodox Jews from Eastern Europe settled in the town, forming their own congregations with prayer rooms on Hochstrasse and, later, on Luisenstrasse: the Ahdut congregation was formed in 1906, the Mahzikei ha-Dat congregation in 1913. Rabbi Moses Findling led the Orthodox community, which, from the 1920s onwards, maintained its own school. Elberfeld had three Jewish cemeteries: at Engelnberg an der Weissenburgstrasse after 1810, at an unknown location after 1867 and on Weinberg after 1895. Various Jewish organizations were active in the community, notably the Zionist Herzel Association, founded by Rabbi Dr. Alfred Philippe in 1904. In June 1933, approximately either 2,471 or 3,000 Jews were members of the community (sources provide differing information). As mentioned above, the Jewish communities of Wuppertal-Elberfeld and Wuppertal-Barmen merged in 1929; accordingly, the population figure for 1933 applies to the merged Jewish community. The boycott of Jewish businesses was enforced in April 1933, and by October 1938, 100 Jewish businesses had been “aryanized” and 200 Eastern European Jews had been deported to Poland. On Pogrom Night, rioters vandalized the Orthodox synagogue and incinerated the liberal synagogue and funeral parlor. One hundred and twenty-five Jews were taken into “protective custody”; for the men, this meant deportation to Dachau. In 1939, approximately 1,000 Jews still lived in Wuppertal- Elberfeld. Of these, 776 were deported after 1941; the rest were trapped in Nazi-occupied Europe after leaving the town. At least 1,000 Jews from Wuppertal-Elberfeld were deported during the Shoah; only 150 returned. After the war, a new Jewish community was established in Wuppertal. A memorial plaque now stands next to the former synagogue and Jewish cemetery. The Else Laske- Schueler Literary Foundation is based in the town.

Author / Sources: Benjamin Rosendahl
Sources: EJL, LJG, SG-NRW