Editing Gelsenkirchen (section)

===Nazi Germany===
The [[9 November in German history|9 November 1938]] [[Kristallnacht]] antisemitic riots destroyed Jewish businesses, dwellings and cemeteries, and a [[synagogue]] in Buer and one in downtown Gelsenkirchen. A new downtown Gelsenkirchen synagogue was opened on 1 February 2007.

Gelsenkirchen was a target of [[strategic bombing during World War II]], particularly during the 1943 [[Battle of the Ruhr]] and the [[Oil campaign of World War II|oil campaign]]. Three quarters of Gelsenkirchen was destroyed<ref>[http://www.dw.com/en/gelsenkirchen/a-1533348 "World Cup 2006 – Gelsenkirchen"], [[Deutsche Welle]], 19 October 2005</ref> and many above-ground [[air raid shelter]]s such as near the town hall in Buer are in nearly original form.

[[Oberst]] [[Werner Mölders]], the legendary [[Luftwaffe]] fighter pilot, was born here.

The [[Gelsenberg Lager]] subcamp of the [[Buchenwald concentration camp]] was established in 1944<ref>Edward Victor. [http://www.edwardvictor.com/Holocaust/Gelsenkirchen.htm Alphabetical list of camps, subcamps and other camps], Gelsenkirchen</ref> to provide [[forced labour]] of about 2000 Hungarian women and girls for Gelsenberg-Benzin-AG. About 150 died during September 1944 bombing raids (shelters and protection ditches were forbidden to them).<ref>[http://www.gelsenzentrum.de/gelsenberg_lager.htm Das Gelsenberglager, Außenlager des KZ Buchenwald in Gelsenkirchen] {{in lang|de}}</ref> There was also a camp for [[Sinti]] and [[Romani people]] (see ''[[Romani Holocaust]]'') in the city.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.bundesarchiv.de/zwangsarbeit/haftstaetten/index.php?action=2.2&tab=7&id=1522|title=Lager für Sinti und Roma Gelsenkirchen|website=Bundesarchiv.de|access-date=9 January 2024|language=de}}</ref>

From 1933 to 1945, the city's mayor was the appointed [[Nazi]] Carl Engelbert Böhmer. In 1994, the Institute for City History opened the documentation centre "Gelsenkirchen under National Socialism" ({{Lang|de|Dokumentationsstätte "Gelsenkirchen im Nationalsozialismus"}}).