Muenster, Germany

Two Jews arrived c. 1130 to collect a debt from the local bishop. Jews apparently began to settle later in the center, and may have established a permanent settlement by the late 13th cent. In the first half of the 14th century, the community was the largest and most important in the bishopric, maintaining a synagogue, cemetery, mikve, and kosher butchering facilities. The community ended in 1350, either through massacre or expulsion during the upheaval associated with the Black Death. Jews only returned to Muenster in the first half of the 16th century, after ten Jewish families were granted protection by Bishop Franz von Waldeck in 1536. They earned their livelihoods as small-scale moneylenders and lived on the outskirts of the city. However, in 1554, after the Bishop's death, the municipal council expelled all the Jews. Jews again received letters of protection from the local bishops in the 17th and 18th century but the municipality denied them permanent residence rights. Nonetheless their number in the whole bishopric increased to 203 families in 1795. Most Jews engaged in peddling and petty trade. Only in 1810, under the French authorities as rulers of the Grand Duchy of Berg, were Jews allowed to settle permanently in the town for the first time since the 1554 expulsion. In 1852, the Jewish population was 275, increasing to 567 (total 58,135) by 1895. The Jewish population reached a peak of 732 in 1919. From the late 19th century, various antisemitic publications made their appearance in the city and in 1900 Jews were banned from a local commercial agents association. A new Jewish cemetery was opened in 1811 and a new synagogue was consecrated in 1880. In 1815, Dr Abraham Sutro (1784 - 1869) became state rabbi (Landrabbiner) with his seat in Muenster from 1816. Though not acting as local rabbi, his influence on the community was great and he was a leader in the Orthodox struggle against the Reform movement as well as in the fight for Jews equal rights. In 1861, after 50 years of service, Dr Sutro became the first German rabbi to be awarded the Imperial Order of Excellence. The leader of the Reform movement in Muenster from the mid-1840s was Dr Salomon Friedlaender, grandson of the Reform state rabbi of Westphalia and Wittgenstein, Yosef Avraham Friedlaender. Reform continued to make inroads and an organ was installed in the new synagogue. In the Weimar period, Jews continued to engage mainly in commerce (60% of breadwinners), including the cattle and grain trade. Jews also continued to serve on the municipal council and in various local societies (sports, music, volunteer firemen, etc.). Other societies, including the student societies, still refused to allow Jewish membership. In general, Jews and Germans were not intimate to the extent of inviting one another to family celebrations and an undercurrent of antisemitism was always present. The Jewish population in 1933 was 558 (total 122,210). In March 1933, the Nazis received 40.2% of the vote in the Reichstag elections. Already in February, members of the Nazi Students Union disrupted a lecture at the university by a Jewish professor. The boycott against Jewish stores also started earlier than in other places (at least five closed in 1933). On 29 March, two Jewish lawyers were ejected by Nazis from the regional court and Jewish professors were prevented from entering the university. Jews were subsequently dismissed from their jobs and from the public service. All Jewish lecturers were dismissed from the university by 1936, a total of 22 including those married to Jews. In August 1935, Jews were banned from municipal swimming pools and libraries. SS forces vandalized Jewish stores and homes. By early Nov. 1938, 25 Jewish stores had been sold off. In October 1938, 16 Jews with Polish citizenship were expelled to Poland. Despite emigration, the Jewish population was still above 550 in 1938 as Jews arrived from neighboring settlements. Zionist activity continued. In 1935 the local Zionist group numbered 63 members, On Kristallnacht (9-10 Nov. 1938), the synagogue was burned and at least nine Jewish stores and 11 Jewish homes were destroyed. Jews were beaten and arrested. With emigration continuing, the Jewish population dropped to 350 in 1939, 200 in 1940, and 100 in 1941. In summer 1939, Jews began to move to 14 special "Jewish houses." In 1933-45 264 (or 280) Jews emigrated, including 49 to the U.S., 48 to Holland, 45 to Palestine and 36 to England. On 13 December 1941, 104 local Jews were included in the first transport of 1,000 Westphalian Jews deported to the Riga ghetto. Another 11 were sent there on 27 January 1942. On 30 or 31 March 1942, 11 Jews were deported to the Warsaw ghetto and in the last transport with Jews from Muenster, 50 (the old, the sick, and children under the age of six) were sent to the Theresienstadt ghetto. Estimates of the number of local Jews who perished in the Holocaust vary between 247 and 288; 24 are known to have survived the concentration camps. A community of 28-35 Jews was established after the war. The congregation numbered 136 in 1960 (including 40 from neighboring settlements) mostly from Russia, Poland.