Essen
General information: First Jewish presence: 13th century; peak Jewish population: 5,045 in 1932/33
Summary: The earliest available records of a Jewish presence in Essen
are dated 1291. Although Jews were expelled from Essen
several times during the 14th and 15th centuries, they always
managed to return. The medieval community conducted
services in a prayer hall.
The Jews of Essen were granted equal rights in the early
19th century, when the city was under French rule. According
to records, local Jews participated in the revolution of 1848.
As a result of the city’s tolerant atmosphere, the community
grew rapidly: from 373 members in 1836 to 1,480 in 1895.
It was in the late 19th century, too, that large numbers of Jews
from Eastern Europe moved to Essen.
Established in the late 17th century, the community’s
first synagogue was located on Bergstrasse (present-day Im
Zwoelfling). In 1808, a new synagogue was inaugurated on
Weberstrasse (present-day Gerswidastrasse). A Moorish-style
synagogue was built on the same site in 1870, and it was
there that Jews prayed until 1913, when the community inaugurated yet another house of worship, the so-called “Old
Synagogue,” at 29 Steeler Strasse. The Old Synagogue, a
magnificent edifice with four cupolas, accommodated 1,400
worshipers, an organ, a women’s gallery, a mikveh and a
weekday synagogue.
Essen’s Jewish school, founded in 1830, was presided
over by teacher Moses Blumenfeld between 1841 and
1894. The city was also home to three Jewish cemeteries:
on Hoffnungsstrasse, or present-day Lazarettstrasse, between
1873 and 1923; on Reckhammerweg (1885-1991); and on
Schultzstrasse/Parkfriedhof (1931 until today). Salomon
Samuel served as rabbi from 1894 until 1932.
In 1933, 420 children attended the Jewish elementary school.
Active in the community were a Talmud Torah, a Hebrew school,
a literary club and nine welfare organizations. The defunct
synagogue building on Weberstrasse was torn down in 1937.
After the Nazis’ election victories, anti-Semitism intensified in
Essen. Local Jews were often arrested, and Jewish-owned shops
were, beginning in April of 1933, boycotted. In October 1938,
between 450 and 570 Polish Jews were expelled from Essen.
On Pogrom Night, rioters set the Old Synagogue on fire,
gutting the interior; a youth center and an Eastern European
prayer hall were also burned down. Jewish homes and stores
were vandalized, and approximately 700 men were sent to
Dachau; most were released in February 1939.
Between 1933 and 1941, the community lost 60%
of its members, all of whom left Germany. Deportations
commenced in late 1941, and in May 1942, the remaining
Jews were forcibly moved to the Holbeckshof camp in Essen-
Steele. At least 2,500 Essen Jews perished in the Shoah.
Approximately 100 survivors returned to Essen after the
war. A new synagogue was inaugurated on Sedanstrasse in
1959; and in November 1980, the Old Synagogue, to which
a plaque has been affixed, was converted into an archive and
memorial center. Plaques were also unveiled at the central
train station and on Aronweg/Holbeckshof.
Photo: The synagogue of Essen in 1914. Courtesy of: Essen Municipal Photography Service.
Photo 2: The burning of the synagogue in Essen on the morning of November 10, 1938. Courtesy of: Essen Municipal Photography Service.
Author / Sources: Heidemarie Wawrzyn
Sources: EJL, FJG, HU, LJG, SIA
www.jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/5866-essen
hv-essen.de
www.kuladig.de
Sources: EJL, FJG, HU, LJG, SIA
www.jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/5866-essen
hv-essen.de
www.kuladig.de
Located in: north-rhine-westphalia