Aachen, Germany

Jews were present during the reign of Charlemagne and were granted the right of free trade in his Jew Edict of 800. In 1241, Jewish residence was restricted to a Street of the Jews (Judengasse). Persecution and expulsion followed, with Jewish residence subsequently permitted only under the protection of local rulers. In 1629, the Jews were again expelled, some returning ten years later and again taking up their occupation as moneylenders. In 1794, under French rule, the Jews were accorded full civil rights. By 1806 their number had grown to 60 and by 1812 a number of Jews owned factories and workshops as well as retail and wholesale establishments. Most Jewish commerce and industry revolved around the textile trade. The Jewish population proceeded to grow from 96 in 1820 to 1,334 (total 103,470) in 1890. Throughout the latter part of the 19th century, about two-thirds of the Jews engaged in commerce and the economic situation of the Jews remained far superior to that of the local, overwhelmingly Catholic population. From 1851, Jews were regularly elected to the municipal council and wealthy Jews were residing in the new and exclusive section of the city. The community was officially recognized in 1836, with a number of satellite communities coming under its jurisdiction. Its first cemetery was opened in 1822. In 1850, the Liberal congregation introduced an organ and appointed its first rabbi, Dr. David Rothschild, who served until 1859. A Reform prayer book was used and the use of Hebrew in prayer was reduced. The Jewish bar mitzvah service was replaced by confirmation exercises on the Protestant model. A new and larger synagogue was completed in 1862. In 1876, Dr. Theodor Julius became rabbi, serving the community until 1925 and helping publish the famous journal Monatsschrift fuer Geschichte und Wissenschaft des Judentums successively edited by Zacharias Frankel and Heinrich Grads. The first (private) Jewish elementary school, opened in 1826 with 24 pupils, became a Jewish public school in 1845. By 1888, 97 boys and girls in separate classrooms were in attendance. Though the Bible was not studied and Hebrew instruction was limited, Rabbi Julius conducted supplementary religious classes. The Jews of Aachen operated a wide range of welfare and charity services. The Zionist Organization and the Central Union (C.V.) opened offices in 1907 and 1910, respectively. In 1905, the Jewish population reached a peak of 1,665, dropping to 1,420 in 1925 and 1,345 (total 162,774) in 1933, to make the community the ninth largest in the Rhineland. At the same time Jewish births dropped dramatically, from 31 in 1922 to just five in 1933. By 1925, 27.5% of the Jewish population was over 50 years of age (as opposed to 19.8% in the general population). About 10% of the Jewish population was of East European origin. Jews continued to play a leading economic role in the Weimar Republic. Jewish mills were responsible for over half the textile production in the city and 50 Jewish firms marketed their products throughout Germany. Retail outlets like Tietz, Ehape, and the Kaufmann Co. employed hundreds of workers. The community continued to be overwhelmingly Liberal in outlook, giving the local faction 80-85% of the vote in elections to the community council. Zionist support was still limited in scope. Support for the Nazis was negligible until 1930 and even in 1933 the 27% Nazi vote in the Reichstag elections was the lowest in Germany. When the Nazis vandalized the popular Mimetz hotel and other Jewish businesses in 1932, the acts were widely condemned. The public made little effort to defy the 1 April economic boycott which the Nazis instituted, but there was also little violence. In March-April 1933, Jews were expelled from trade unions and the local chamber of commerce and banned from using municipal sports facilities. Most of the local population opposed Nazi policy and a rare demonstration against the persecution of the Jews was held a week after the general boycott. However, Nazi pressure eroded support and sympathy for the Jews. In December 1934, an explosive charge was set off in the synagogue, causing extensive damage. During this initial period (1933-35), 172 Jews emigrated, including 58 to Holland and 37 to Palestine, while another 107 left for other localities in Germany. However, at the same time, other Jews from nearby towns and villages were arriving. Jewish welfare services were united under a single roof organization and enrollment in the community Jewish school increased to 110 in 1934-35 as opposed to 70 in 1932-33. Zionist activity also intensified. Further anti-Jewish measures were enacted in 1936: Jews were banned from municipal bathing facilities, real estate transactions between Jews and non-Jews were prohibited, and Jewish children continued to be expelled from schools. Jews still occupied key economic positions with 28 manufacturers (mainly in the textile industry) and 61 merchants operating, but the process of "Aryanization" continued unabated and in 1936 a third of the city's Jews were unemployed. In 1938, the community was stripped of its autonomous legal status and placed under the jurisdiction of the municipality. At the same time, Jews were banned from "Aryan" hotels. By 1938, 160 children were in the community's Jewish school and 100 in its kindergarten. On Kristallnacht (9-10 November 1938), the synagogue was burned down; Jewish homes and stores were vandalized; and 70 men were arrested, mostly community leaders. Sixty were sent to the Buchenwald concentration camp and ten to Sachsenhausen. In the aftermath of Kristallnacht, 91 of the remaining 112 Jewish businesses in the city were closed down or "Aryanized" and the last Jewish children removed from public schools. In May 1939, 782 Jews were still living in Aachen. Many managed to leave Germany illegally, taking advantage of organized bus tours to Holland and Belgium to escape. In April 1941 the remaining Jews were confined to a few special houses, most of them in a camp (Judenlager) near the railroad junction. From the beginning of the year, they were also subjected to a regime of forced labor and in September they were ordered to wear the yellow badge. Deportations commenced on 25 March 1942, when 16 Jews were sent east. A second transport from Duesseldorf to Izbica in the Lublin district (Poland) included 144 Jews from Aachen above the age of 55. Another 278 Jews were deported to Theresienstadt on 25 July 1942, including residents of the old age home. The last Jews of Aachen were deported to Theresienstadt between December 1943 and September 1944. After the war, 62 Jews were present in the city, and the Jewish population grew from 165 in 1960 to 522 in 1993.