Kleve
General information: First Jewish presence: 1242; peak Jewish population: 185 in 1880; Jewish population in 1933: 151 or 158
Summary: The first available record of a Jewish presence in Kleve is
from the 14th century, but records suggest that Jews lived
there as early as 1242. The Black Death pogroms of 1348/49
resulted in the murder or expulsion of Kleve’s Jews, and it
was only after the Thirty Years’ War (1618-1648) that Jews
returned to the town. The new arrivals were associated with
the Gomperz banking family, members of which founded
the community and built its first synagogue. The community conducted services in the Gomperz family
home (on Wasserstrasse) until 1670, when Elias Gomperz
build a synagogue and mikveh on Gerwin. On August 24,
1821, a new synagogue was inaugurated on Reitbahn, next
to the Schwanenburg castle on the outskirts of town; at some
point after the 1820s, a Jewish school was established in the
building. Kleve’s Jewish cemetery was located on Koekkoekstege
(present-day Ernst-Goldschmidt-Strasse).
In Kleve, local churches applauded the Nazis’ rise to
power. Most Jewish-owned businesses were forced to shut
down soon after the Nazis began enforcing their boycott
of Jewish stores and establishments. On Pogrom Night
(November 1938), SS men incinerated the synagogue, looted
Jewish homes and tore tombstones from Jewish graves.
In 1939, only 50 Jews lived in Kleve; the last 30 were
deported to Riga, Lodz and Theresienstadt between 1941
and 1943. At least 50 local Jews were murdered by the Nazis.
A memorial plaque was later unveiled at the former
synagogue site.
Author / Sources: Benjamin Rosendahl
Sources: EJL, LJG, SG-NRW
Sources: EJL, LJG, SG-NRW
Located in: north-rhine-westphalia