Ochtrup
General information: First Jewish presence: 1720; peak Jewish population: 43 in 1848; Jewish population in 1933: unknown (44 in 1931)
Summary: Owing to local administrative resistance, the growth of
this Jewish community, made up largely of cattle and meat
dealers, was very slow. Prayer services were conducted in
private residences until the 1860s, when the community
acquired a plot of land on which it inaugurated a synagogue
in 1868. In order to provide religious instruction for children,
the community hired a teacher from nearby Bergstein. In the
early 1900s, local Jews, hoping to attract new congregants,
made plans for the construction of a new synagogue, but
these plans fell through due to a lack of funds.
On Pogrom Night, the interior of the synagogue was
vandalized by local Nazis who hurled the ritual objects,
including the Torah scrolls, onto the street. The fire
brigade extinguished the ensuing fire, but the building was
demolished in 1959 and rebuilt for residential purposes. A
memorial plaque was unveiled at the site in the mid-1980s.
Fourteen local Jews were deported to Eastern Europe
in 1941/42; it is not known if any survived. The cemetery
contains 43 intact tombstones.
Author / Sources: Harold Slutzkin
Sources: LJG, SIA
Sources: LJG, SIA
Located in: north-rhine-westphalia