Dueren
General information: First Jewish presence: 1241; peak Jewish population: 358 in 1933; Jewish population in 1933: 358
Summary: The Jewish community of Dueren was decimated during
the Black Death pogroms of 1348/49, but a Jewish presence
was re-established there in 1370. In the mid-1880s, after
two centuries during which large numbers of Jews settled
in the area, more than 600 Jews lived in the Dueren region,
approximately 10% of whom lived in the city of Dueren.
Although the Jews of Dueren were not recognized as
an official Jewish community, they maintained a prayer
room and a school. In 1847, the authorities permitted the
community to build a synagogue which would also serve the
surrounding towns; and in 1869, construction commenced
on the large house of worship (inaugurated in 1872).
On Pogrom Night, SA troops tried to set the synagogue
building on fire; they failed, and instead busied themselves by
breaking windows, tearing the Torah scrolls and holy books
and breaking furniture. Unappeased, the men returned the
following morning, doused the building with kerosene and
set it on fire, after which they did the same to the community
center, the school building and the sexton�s house. According
to records, the blaze was so intense that several neighboring
homes caught fire, the inhabitants just managing to escape
unharmed. The Dueren municipality billed the Jewish
community for the cost of demolishing the synagogue ruins.
At the former synagogue site, now a parking lot, a
memorial stone with an engraving of the synagogue
commemorates the destruction.
Photo: The synagogue of Dueren. Courtesy of: City Archive of Dueren.
Author / Sources: Moshe Finkel
Sources: LJG, SG-NRW, SIA
Sources: LJG, SG-NRW, SIA
Located in: north-rhine-westphalia