Juelich
General information: First Jewish presence: 13th century; peak Jewish population: 137 in 1910; Jewish population in 1933: 120
Summary: The Jewish community of Juelich was destroyed in the
Black Death pogroms of 1349, after which its property
was expropriated. A new Jewish community, established
there in the mid-17th century, numbered ten families by the
beginning of the 18th century.
Communal institutions included a medieval cemetery, a
new cemetery (consecrated in 1816) and a synagogue, the last
of which was located on Grunstrasse and was inaugurated in
1861. According to records, a local Jewish couple was accused
of blood libel in 1840.
Many Juelich Jews emigrated from Germany between
1933 and 1937. On Pogrom Night, SA troops and local
residents burned down the synagogue building, but not
before looting its valuables. Jewish homes were vandalized,
and Jewish men were sent to concentration camps. Of the remaining 52 Jews, several emigrated from or relocated
within Germany.
In March 1941, approximately 30 Jews—Juelich’s last—
were deported to the East. Seventy-one local Jews died in the
Shoah, including some who had escaped to the Netherlands
and to Belgium.
Author / Sources: Dorothea Shefer-Vanson
Sources: AH, EJL, SIA
Sources: AH, EJL, SIA
Located in: north-rhine-westphalia