Synagogue (Euskirchen)

Postcard with the synagogue in Euskirchen (French text: "Euskirchen. La Synagogue", card from the time of the Allied occupation of the Rhineland )

The synagogue in Euskirchen , the district town of the district of the same name in the southwest of North Rhine-Westphalia ( Germany ), was built in 1886/87. The synagogue was on Annaturmstrasse.

history

After the synagogue built in 1856 in Annaturmstraße was destroyed in the great fire in 1886, the Jewish community of Euskirchen built an elaborate new building with a 30 meter high dome on the same property . The facade facing the street was flanked by two towers with oriental-style roofs. In the summer of 1887, the Cologne rabbi Abraham Frank inaugurated the building, which had more than 200 seats.

time of the nationalsocialism

On November 10, 1938 , the synagogue was first devastated and then set on fire by SS members. The ruin was torn down in 1940.

Commemoration

A memorial stele has stood at the site of the synagogue, where there is now a green area, since 1981. Under a menorah the inscription can be read: “Our Jewish fellow citizens, the victims of the National Socialist tyranny 1933–1945”. In the immediate vicinity there is a plaque with the inscription: “Memorial site of the former Jewish synagogue. The synagogue, originally built on this site in 1856, was rebuilt immediately after the town fire of 1886 and handed over to its intended use on August 26, 1887. On November 10, 1938, this religious, intellectual and cultural center of the Jewish communities from Euskirchen and the pre-Eifel region was destroyed by arson by the National Socialists. This memorial should keep the memory alive and be a reminder for future generations. ”The unveiling on May 3, 1981 took place.

See also

• List of synagogues destroyed in the German Reich from 1933 to 1945

literature

• Klaus-Dieter Alicke: Lexicon of the Jewish communities in the German-speaking area. 3 volumes. Gütersloher Verlagshaus, Gütersloh 2008, ISBN 978-3-579-08035-2 ( online ).
• Hans-Dieter Arntz: The "Reichskristallnacht" in the district town of Euskirchen. In: District Euskirchen: Yearbook 2009. pp. 34–46.
• Hans-Dieter Arntz: The largest synagogue in the Voreifel. In: ders .: Judaica - Jews in the Voreifel. Kümpel, Euskirchen 1983, pp. 93-109.
• Hans-Dieter Arntz: "Reichskristallnacht" - The November pogrom 1938 in the country. Helios, Aachen 2008, ISBN 978-3-938208-69-4 .

Web links

• City of Euskirchen (accessed March 5, 2016)
• Hans-Dieter Arntz: When the synagogue burned in Euskirchen (accessed on March 5, 2016)

Coordinates: 50 ° 39 ′ 44 ″  N , 6 ° 47 ′ 10.6 ″  E