Dortmund-Hoerde
General information: First Jewish presence: 1505; peak Jewish population: approximately 400 in 1927; Jewish population in 1932/33: 237
Summary: The earliest available record of a Jewish family in Hoerde
is dated 1505. Few Jews, however, were permitted to settle
there before the beginning of the 18th century. Founded in
1789/90, the community initially conducted services in
private prayer rooms.
The Jews of Hoerde received equal rights in 1808, when
Hoerde was under French rule; this, coupled with the
development of industry, triggered considerable growth in
the Jewish population. In 1818, the community purchased
a house on the corner of Lange Strasse and Goldstrasse for
use as a synagogue.
Finally, in 1900, local Jews inaugurated a magnificent
synagogue—an organ was used during services—on
Victoriastrasse (present-day Semerteichstrasse). Although
the Liberal congregation was incorporated into Dortmund
in 1927, it (and its affiliated communities) remained
independent. The synagogue was renovated in 1929.
Other communal institutions included a private Jewish
elementary school (established in 1842) and two cemeteries:
at Muehlentor (consecrated in the mid-18th century) and on
Hoerder Kampweg (1914-1967).
In 1933, 237 Jews lived in Hoerde. Thirty-one
schoolchildren received religious instruction, and a Jewish
women’s association provided services to the sick and
indigent.
The synagogue, which had been desecrated on several
occasions during the 1930s, was set on fire by SA troops on
Pogrom Night. In Hoerde, Jewish homes and stores were
vandalized during the pogrom. The synagogue ruins were
torn down in or around 1940, and we also know that the
cemetery was largely destroyed during the Nazi period.
Sixty-nine Jews lived in Hoerde in 1939, some of whom
managed to emigrate. Beginning in January 1942, the Jews of
Hoerde were deported, together with those from Dortmund,
to the concentration camps. At least 43 Hoerde Jews perished
in the Shoah.
At the synagogue site, which now accommodates a
residential building, a memorial plaque was unveiled in
1982, as was a commemorative stele at a later date.
Photo: The synagogue on Hiltropwall in Dortmund. Courtesy of: Yad Vashem Photo Archive, 214AO9.
Author / Sources: Heidemarie Wawrzyn
Sources: EJL, FJG, HU, LJG, SIA, YV
Sources: EJL, FJG, HU, LJG, SIA, YV
Located in: north-rhine-westphalia