Siegen

First Jewish presence: 13th century; peak Jewish population: 130 in 1925; Jewish population in 1933: 122

Jews first lived in Siegen in the 13th century, but government restrictions prevented large numbers from settling there until the latter half of the 19th century. Siegen’s Jewish school, opened in 1871, was recognized as a public Jewish elementary school in 1886, just two years after local Jews established an official community (in 1884). Services were conducted in prayer rooms located in various family homes—records mention two such rooms on Lindenstrasse and Poststrasse—until July 22, 1904, when the community inaugurated a synagogue on Am Obergraben (the school was moved to the same building). The Jewish cemetery on Lindenberg was consecrated in 1871. From the early 20th century onwards, local Jews, many of whom were livestock traders, butchers and shop owners, were active in the town’s social and political life. A Jewish women’s association and a women’s union conducted charity work in Siegen. The anti-Jewish boycott was enforced in Siegen several months after it was officially announced. In all, 24 Jewish-owned businesses were expropriated during the “aryanization” process. On Pogrom Night, all Siegen’s Jewish men were arrested and sent to the Oranienburg concentration camp, where they were interned for many weeks. On November 10, 1938 (one day after Pogrom Night), rioters burned the synagogue’s furniture and stole the Torah scrolls. By 1939, what remained of the building had been removed, after which an air raid shelter was built on the site. Thirty-nine Siegen Jews were deported to the camps; six local Jewish women who were married to Christians survived the war. A memorial plaque was unveiled at the former synagogue site in the 1960s. In 1978, the entrance to the air raid shelter was converted into a memorial.

Svetlana Frank

Copyright: Pogrom Night 1938 - A Memorial to the Destroyed Synagogues of Germany/ Germansynagogues.com

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