Huelchenrath

General information: First Jewish presence: 1371; peak Jewish population: 63 in 1871; Jewish population in 1933: unknown
Summary: The first available record of a Jewish presence in Hulchenrath (also known as Huelchrath) is dated 1371, when a Jew who had received a letter of protection resided there. We also know that, in 1685, another “protected Jew” was permitted to settle in the town. Forty-three Jews lived in Hulchenrath in 1806. Although the community was affiliated with that of Grevenbroich in or around 1858, local Jews continued to conduct services in a private residence. Finally, in 1875, the community inaugurated a new synagogue on Broichstrasse. In May 1928, not long after anti-Semitic rioters destroyed its furniture, the Broichstrasse synagogue was sold to a local resident. The building, however, was nevertheless damaged on Pogrom Night. Eight Huelchenrath Jews perished in the Shoah. Repaired in October 1951, the synagogue later accommodated a slaughterhouse and a sausage factory. A memorial plaque was affixed to one of the walls in 1988; and in 1998, three years after the town council took over the building, it was opened as a memorial and social hall.
Author / Sources: Dorothea Shefer-Vanson
Sources: AH, EJL, SG-NRW, SIA, YV