Kaldenkirchen
General information: First Jewish presence: 1721; peak Jewish population: 56 in 1868; Jewish population in 1933: 44
Summary: The earliest available record of a Jewish presence in
Kaldenkirchen is dated 1721. We also know that a “protected
Jew” lived there in 1768.
Twenty-five Jews resided in Kaldenkirchen during the
first half of the 19th century. The community, which was
affiliated with the congregation in Kempen, consecrated a synagogue on Synagogenstrasse (“synagogue street”) in 1873;
the synagogue was renovated in 1923, the same year in which
its 50th anniversary was celebrated. Kaldenkirchen’s Jewish
school was established in 1843.
On Pogrom Night, SA men torched and destroyed
the synagogue building. By 1939, only 23 Jews lived
in Kaldenkirchen. Six local Jews were deported to the
Riga ghetto in 1941; and in July 1942, two were sent to
Theresienstadt. All but one perished.
The synagogue ruins were demolished in 1960. A
memorial plaque was unveiled at the site in 1986.
Author / Sources: Dorothea Shefer-Vanson
Sources: AH, EJL, SG-NRW, SIA, YV
Sources: AH, EJL, SG-NRW, SIA, YV
Located in: north-rhine-westphalia