Velbert
General information: First Jewish presence: 1808; peak Jewish population: 86 in 1900; Jewish population in 1933: unknown
Summary: The Jews of Velbert never established their own independent
congregation, for their small community was a satellite of
Elbersfeld. Unlike the other satellite communities, however,
Velbert’s grew steadily in numbers. Services were conducted
in a series of prayer rooms, the last of which was located
in the home of Fritz Aaron, on Bahnhofstrasse. Records
suggest that the town’s Jewish cemetery was already in use
in 1840, and we know for certain that it was desecrated in
1894, around which time Jews attending a funeral there were
assaulted. Velbert was home to a Jewish school from 1845
until approximately 1865.
Even though the congregation made plans for the
construction of a synagogue and acquired land on which to
build it, the house of worship was never built.
On Pogrom Night, the Bahnhofstrasse prayer room,
which by this point was used only during the High Holidays,
was broken into and vandalized: Torah scrolls, chairs and
silverware were desecrated and smashed.
Eighteen Velbert Jews were murdered in the camps.
The cemetery was sold in 1950, after which 50 gravestones
were used in the construction of a barracks used to house POWs.
Author / Sources: Ruth Martina Trucks
Sources: EJL, LJG, SG-NRW, SIA
Sources: EJL, LJG, SG-NRW, SIA
Located in: north-rhine-westphalia