Editing Bochum (section)

===The Nazi era and World War II===
On 28 October 1938, 250 Polish or stateless Jews were expelled from Bochum to Poland.<ref name=jvl>{{cite web|url=https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/bochum|title=Bochum|website=Jewish Virtual Library|access-date=30 May 2021}}</ref> On 9 November 1938, [[Kristallnacht]], the Bochum [[synagogue]] was set on fire and there was rioting against Jewish citizens. The first Jews from Bochum were deported to [[Nazi concentration camps]]{{citation needed|date=June 2019}} and many Jewish institutions and homes were destroyed. Some 500 Jewish citizens are known by name to have been killed in the [[Holocaust]], including 19 who were younger than 16 years old. Joseph Klirsfeld was Bochum's rabbi at this time. He and his wife fled to Palestine. In December 1938, the Jewish elementary school teacher [[Else Hirsch]] began organising groups of children and adolescents to be sent to the [[Netherlands]] and [[England]], sending ten groups in all. Many Jewish children and those from other persecuted groups were taken in by Dutch families and thereby saved from abduction or deportation and death.<ref>Karin Finkbohner, Betti Helbing, Carola Horn, Anita Krämer, Astrid Schmidt-Ritter, Kathy Vowe. ''Wider das Vergessen — Widerstand und Verfolgung Bochumer Frauen und Zwangsarbeiterinnen 1933–1945'' pp. 62–63. Europäischer Universitätsverlag, {{ISBN|978-3-932329-62-3}} {{in lang|de}}</ref>

[[File:Bundesarchiv Bild 146-2008-0032, Bochum, Zerstörte St. Marien Kirche.jpg|thumb|left|Bombed St. Mary Church, 1943]]

On 15 July 1939, the [[Gestapo]] entered the headquarters of the [[Union of Poles in Germany]] in Bochum, searched it and interrogated its chief Michał Wesołowski, however, it did not obtain the desired lists of Polish activists, which had been previously hidden by Poles.<ref name=mc>{{cite journal|last=Cygański|first=Mirosław|year=1984|title=Hitlerowskie prześladowania przywódców i aktywu Związków Polaków w Niemczech w latach 1939-1945|journal=Przegląd Zachodni|language=pl|issue=4|pages=55–56}}</ref> Increased Nazi terror and persecutions of Poles followed, and in response, many Poles from the region came to Bochum for organizational and information meetings.<ref name=mc/> During the German [[invasion of Poland]], which started [[World War II]] in September 1939, the Nazis carried out mass arrests of local Polish activists, who were then sent to concentration camps. Local Polish premises and seats of organizations were looted and expropriated by Nazi Germany.<ref name=lwl/>

During the war, Germany operated a prison in the city with three [[Forced labour under German rule during World War II|forced labour]] subcamps within present-day city limits,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.bundesarchiv.de/zwangsarbeit/haftstaetten/index.php?action=2.2&tab=7&id=480|title=Strafgefängnis Bochum|website=Bundesarchiv.de|access-date=30 May 2021|language=de}}</ref> an additional detention center,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.bundesarchiv.de/zwangsarbeit/haftstaetten/index.php?action=2.2&tab=7&id=479|title=Untersuchungshaftanstalt Bochum|website=Bundesarchiv.de|access-date=30 May 2021|language=de}}</ref> a camp for [[Romani people]] in the present-day [[Wattenscheid]] district,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.bundesarchiv.de/zwangsarbeit/haftstaetten/index.php?action=2.2&tab=7&id=100000993|title=Lager für Sinti und Roma Bochum-Wattenscheid|website=Bundesarchiv.de|access-date=30 May 2021|language=de}}</ref> three [[List of subcamps of Buchenwald|subcamps]] of the [[Buchenwald concentration camp]],<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.deutschland-ein-denkmal.de/ded/database/category?cat=kz.buw&request_locale=en|title=List of places: Concentration camps and outlying camps. Concentration camp Buchenwald|website=Deutschland-ein-denkmal.de|access-date=30 May 2021}}</ref> and a detachment of the 3rd [[SS construction brigade]].<ref>{{cite book|last=Megargee|first=Geoffrey P.|year=2009|title=The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Encyclopedia of Camps and Ghettos 1933–1945. Volume I|publisher=Indiana University Press, United States Holocaust Memorial Museum|page=1385|isbn=978-0-253-35328-3}}</ref>

A report from July 1943 listed 100 forced labour camps in Bochum.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.bo-alternativ.de/NSDAP-Bericht.htm|title=Zwangsarbeit in Bochum|website=Bo-alternativ.de|access-date=30 May 2021|language=de}}</ref>

Because the Ruhr region was an area of high residential density and a centre for the manufacture of weapons, it was a major target in the war. Women with young children, school children and the homeless fled or were evacuated to safer areas, leaving cities largely deserted to the arms industry, coal mines and steel plants and those unable to leave.

{{Historical populations|1500|1000|1750|1449|1871|21192|1900|65554|1910|136931|1919|142760|1925|156762|1933|314546|1939|305485|1950|289804|1961|367338|1970|343968|1987|386271|2001|390087|2011|362286|2022|354288|align=right|footnote=source:<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.landesdatenbank.nrw.de/ldbnrw/online?sequenz=tabelleErgebnis&selectionname=12411-01i |title=Bevölkerungsstand – Gemeinden – Stichtag |publisher=Landesbetrieb für Information und Technik Nordrhein-Westfalen (IT.NRW) |access-date=2020-02-29}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://citypopulation.de/en/germany/cities/|title=Germany: States and Major Cities - Population Statistics, Maps, Charts, Weather and Web Information|website=citypopulation.de}}</ref>}}

During the Holocaust, in 1942–1943, local Jews were deported to German-occupied [[Czechoslovakia]], [[Latvia]] and [[Poland]].<ref name=jvl/>

{{anchor|Allied air attacks}}Bochum was first bombed heavily in May and June 1943.<ref>[http://www.57squadron.co.uk/finaloperation.html "The Final Operation – Bochum"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100416174914/http://www.57squadron.co.uk/finaloperation.html |date=2010-04-16 }} 57 Squadron. Accessed 8 March 2010</ref> On 13 May 1943, the city hall was hit, destroying the top floor, and leaving the next two floors in flames. On 4 November 1944, in an attack involving 700 British bombers, the steel plant, Bochumer Verein, was hit. One of the largest steel plants in Germany,<ref>[http://www.christuskirche-bochum.de/christuskirche/geschichte/ "Geschichte: Gottesfurcht Vaterland"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130522152431/http://www.christuskirche-bochum.de/christuskirche/geschichte/ |date=2013-05-22 }} Christuskirche Bochum. Retrieved 23 January 2011 {{in lang|de}}</ref> more than 10,000 high-explosive and 130,000 incendiary bombs were stored there, setting off a conflagration that destroyed the surrounding neighbourhoods.<ref>[http://www.bochumer-verein.de/englisch/s621.html Chronology] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090713190606/http://www.bochumer-verein.de/englisch/s621.html |date=2009-07-13 }} Official web site, Bochumer Verein. Accessed 7 March 2010</ref><ref name="Homeless">[https://web.archive.org/web/20110910234136/http://www.bochumer-geschichte.de/Geschichte/Politik/Krieg/II-Weltkrieg/70-000-Obdachlose-in-Bochums-Zentrum 70 000 Obdachlose in Bochums Zentrum] History of Bochum, World War II. "70,000 homeless in downtown Bochum" (4 November 1944). {{in lang|de}}</ref> An aerial photo shows the devastation.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Bochum, Germany. 1944-11. Aerial view of Bochum, after attacks by RAF Bomber Command.|url=https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/C279257|publisher=Australian War Memorial|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230206100012/https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/C279257|archive-date=6 February 2023}}</ref>

The town centre of Bochum was a [[Strategic bombing during World War II|strategic target]] during the [[Oil campaign of World War II|Oil Campaign]]. In 150 air raids on Bochum, over 1,300 bombs were dropped on Bochum and [[Gelsenkirchen]]. By the end of the war, 38% of Bochum had been destroyed. 70,000 citizens were homeless and at least 4,095 dead.<ref name="Homeless" /><ref>[http://www.bochumer-geschichte.de/Geschichte/Politik/Krieg/II-Weltkrieg/Zahl-der-Kriegs-und-NS-Opfer-nicht-mehr-feststellbar "Zahl der Kriegs- und NS-Opfer nicht mehr feststellbar"] History of Bochum, World War II. (1 July 1945) "Number of war and Nazi victims no longer ascertainable" Accessed 8 March 2010 {{in lang|de}}</ref> Of Bochum's more than 90,000 homes, only 25,000 remained for the 170,000 citizens who survived the war, many by fleeing to other areas. Most of the remaining buildings were damaged, many with only one usable room. Only 1,000 houses in Bochum remained undamaged after the war. Only two of 122 schools remained unscathed; others were totally destroyed. Hunger was rampant. A resident of neighbouring [[Essen]] was quoted on 23 April 1945 as saying, "Today, I used up my last potato... it will be a difficult time till the new [autumn] potatoes are ready to be picked – if they're not stolen."<ref name="Homeless"/><ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.bochumer-geschichte.de/Geschichte/Politik/Krieg/II-Weltkrieg/Grossoffensive |title=Großoffensive |access-date=2010-03-07 |archive-date=2010-09-24 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100924020036/http://www.bochumer-geschichte.de/Geschichte/Politik/Krieg/II-Weltkrieg/Grossoffensive |url-status=dead }}</ref>

The US army ground advance into Germany reached Bochum in April 1945. Encountering desultory resistance, the US [[79th Infantry Division (United States)|79th Infantry Division]] captured the city on 10 April 1945.<ref>Stanton, Shelby, ''World War II Order of Battle: An Encyclopedic Reference to U.S. Army Ground Forces from Battalion through Division, 1939–1946'' (Revised Edition, 2006), Stackpole Books, p. 148.</ref>

After the war, Bochum was occupied by the [[British Zone of Occupation|British]], who established two [[DP camp|camps]] to house people [[displaced person|displaced by the war]]. The majority of them were former Polish ''Zwangsarbeiter'', [[Forced labour in Germany during World War II|forced labourers]], many of them from the Bochumer Verein.<ref>[[Wolfgang Benz]] and Barbara Distel. ''Der Ort des Terrors: Geschichte der nationalsozialistischen Konzentrationslager, Band 3'' (Site of Terror: The History of Nazi Concentration Camps, Volume 3) p. 395 (2006) {{ISBN|978-3-406-52963-4}} {{in lang|de}}</ref>

Allied bombing destroyed 83% of the built up area of Bochum during World War II.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/education/worldwar2/theatres-of-war/western-europe/investigation/hamburg/sources/docs/6/ | title=The National Archives {{pipe}} World War II {{pipe}} Western Europe 1939-1945: Hamburg {{pipe}} Why did the RAF bomb cities? }}</ref> Today around a third of Bochum consists of buildings from before World War II.<ref>https://zensus2011.de/SharedDocs/Downloads/DE/Publikationen/Aufsaetze_Archiv/2015_12_NI_GWZ_endgueltig.pdf?__blob=publicationFile&v=4 {{Bare URL inline|date=August 2024}}</ref> More than sixty years after the war, bombs continue to be found in the region, usually by construction workers. One found in October 2008 in Bochum town centre led to the evacuation of 400 and involved hundreds of emergency workers.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20110910232844/http://www.bochumer-geschichte.de/Geschichte/Politik/Krieg/II-Weltkrieg/10-Zentner-Bombe-gefunden "10-Zentner Bombe gefunden"] History of Bochum, World War II. "1000-pound bomb found." {{in lang|de}}</ref> A month earlier, a buried bomb exploded in neighbouring [[Hattingen]], injuring 17 people.<ref>[http://www.thelocal.de/society/20080919-14407.html "WWII bomb injures 17 at Hattingen construction site"] ''The Local,'' German news in English. 19 September 2008. Accessed March 8, 2010</ref>

{| class="wikitable" style="float:right;"
|+Largest groups of foreign residents<ref>{{cite web|title=Ausländer und Staatenlose 2013 bis 2017 in Bochum|url=http://www.bochum.de/C125708500379A31/vwContentByKey/W28XFFNJ266BOCMDE/nav/9GGBAZ978BOCM|publisher=Stadt Bochum|access-date=2018-06-24|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180625021632/https://www.bochum.de/C125708500379A31/vwContentByKey/W28XFFNJ266BOCMDE/nav/9GGBAZ978BOCM|archive-date=2018-06-25|url-status=dead}}</ref>
|-
! Nationality || Population (31.12.2018)
|-
|{{flag|Turkey}} || 8,852
|-
|{{flag|Syria}} || 8,075
|-
|{{flag|Poland}} || 3,779
|-
|{{flag|Romania}} || 2,021
|-
|{{flag|Italy}} || 1,902
|-
|{{flag|Iraq}} || 1,600
|-
|{{flag|Serbia}} || 1,413
|-
|{{flag|Greece}} ||1,260
|-
|{{flag|Iran}} || 1,209
|-
|{{flag|Russia}} || 1,010
|-
|{{flag|China}} || 987
|-
|{{flag|Bulgaria}} || 983
|-
|{{flag|Kosovo}} || 961
|-
|{{flag|Ukraine}} || 850
|-
|{{flag|Bosnia}} || 850
|-
|{{flag|Afghanistan}} ||748
|-
|{{flag|Spain}} || 719
|-
|{{flag|Croatia}} || 699
|-
|}