Essen, Germany

Jews are first mentioned in 1291, living under the protection of the local monastery. They were expelled from the city during the Black Death persecutions of 1348-49 following a well-poisoning libel. By the end of the century, they had resettled, all living around a single court (Judenhof) and earning their livelihoods as moneylenders. Over the next few hundred years, they continued to live under letters of protection issued by the mother superiors of the monastery. In 1578, the Jewish settlement was renewed by the Gottschalk family, whose descendants resided in the city until the Nazi era. Under French rule in the early 19th century, the Jews were accorded equal rights. They subsequently participated in the revolutionary events of 1848 and gained the support of the municipal council in their struggle for emancipation. The city's liberal atmosphere and industrial development attracted large numbers of Jews, mainly from Westphalia. The Jewish population thus grew from 222 in 1836 to 1,500 (total 103,010) in 1895. Jews came to occupy key positions in the city's public, cultural, and economic life. When the gates of the local university were thrown open, many were able to study medicine, law, and engineering. In trade, the Jews were prominent in the clothing industry but also ran banks and department and furniture stores. Wealthy Jews were philanthropists and patrons of the arts and Jews sat on the municipal council. Toward the end of the 19th century, the composition of the Jewish population began to change as East European Jews arrived in the city. They engaged in petty trade and peddling or worked in industry or the mines. Their appearance and ways made them a ready target for local antisemites and within the Jewish community itself created a large social gap. By 1805, a synagogue was in use. A new one in the Moorish style was consecrated in 1870. In 1913, a magnificent edifice seating 1,400 was completed, one of the most beautiful synagogues in Germany. Towered and domed, it was styled after the Temple in Jerusalem. A Jewish school was founded in 1830, reaching an enrollment of 264 in 1915. The educator Moses Blumenfeld (1821-1902) became its guiding spirit and a leading figure in the city. Dr. Salomon Samuel became rabbi in 1894, serving 38 years the community maintained extensive social and welfare services. Central Union (C.V.) and Hilfsverein branches were opened in 1903. The Zionists became active in 1904 and Agudat Israel in 1914. The Jewish population continued to grow, reaching 2,773 in 1910 and 4,504 in 1925 (total 629,564). In the latter year, there were 1,173 Jews of East European origin, constituting a reservoir of Zionist support and religious Orthodoxy. In the March 1933 Reichstag elections, the Nazis received a third of the local vote. Arrests, beatings and murders followed. Jews were sent to the Oranienburg concentration camp while anti-Jewish riots broke out in the city's cattle market. Jewish butchers were excluded from the municipal slaughterhouse; Jewish civil servants were dismissed; Jewish doctors and lawyers lost their means of livelihood; and Jews were disqualified as municipal suppliers. Jews were also fired from their jobs in the private sector, including those working for the Krupp Co., among them Prof Benno Strauss (1873-1944), inventor of stainless steel. By 1938, 80% of Jewish businesses had been "Aryanized." Emigration was stepped up, mainly among the young and East European Jews. The Central Union maintained its regional office for the Rhineland and Westphalia in Essen, offering legal and economic services. For the Zionists, WIZO, ORT, and the Keren Kayemet were active. In 1933-41, 60% of the community managed to leave Germany with the help of the Palestine Office and the Hilfsverein, the latter organizing emigration to countries other than Palestine. In 1937, 364 children still attended the Jewish school; by 1941, only 50 were enrolled. The Jewish kindergarten served 100 children in 1938. On 28 October 1938, 570 East European Jews were expelled to the Polish border, most to die in the ghettoes and camps of Poland. On Kristallnacht (9-10 November 1938) the synagogue was set on fire as were the community and youth centers and the East European prayer house. Jewish homes and stores were wrecked. About 700 Jewish men were sent to the Dachau concentration camp, most being released in February 1939. In January 1942, Jewish emigration offices were closed as deportations commenced: 247 Jews to the Lodz ghetto on 27 Oct. 1941; 128 to the Minsk ghetto on 10 November; an unknown number to the Riga ghetto on 11 December; and 355 to lzbica in the Lublin district (Poland) on 22 April 1942. In May, the Jews were confined to the Holbeckshof camp in Essen-Steele. From there, mostly the old were transported to the concentration and death camps of the cast, including 294 to the Theresienstadt ghetto on 21 July 1942. In August, the remaining Jews were transferred to "Jewish houses" and then deported. Over 2,500 Jews perished in the Holocaust. In fall 1944, 520 young Jews from Eastern Europe, chosen for forced labor in the selections at Auschwitz, were confined to a labor camp in the city while working at the Krupp plant. Some escaped but many subsequently died in Bergen-Belsen. After the war, about 100 survivors returned to the city. A new synagogue was consecrated in 1959 as the Jewish population reached 275.