Grevenbroich

Summary: After being forced out of Cologne in 1096, Jews fled to Grevenbroich. A considerable Jewish presence, however, was not established there until 1848, when the Grevenbroich Jewish community was founded. An article, written by the mayor in 1816, revealed that one of the city’s buildings had been used as a synagogue 150 to 200 years earlier. Accordingly, the Jewish community claimed the building, renovated it and converted it into a synagogue. Viewed from the outside, the building looked more like an apartment block than a synagogue. It was also used by the kosher butcher, who converted the rear of the building into a slaughterhouse. Although the mayor prevented the SS from burning down the synagogue on Pogrom Night, the men nevertheless destroyed its interior and threw the ritual articles onto the street. The building was eventually destroyed in a bombing raid. Today, the site is an open area; a memorial plaque has been erected there.

Author / Sources: Moshe Finkel
Sources: EJL, LJG, SG-NRW, SIA