Editing Hildesheim (section)

=== Early 20th century and World War II ===
[[File:SC 335309 - City square of Hildesheim, Germany. (52240573993).jpg|thumb|Hildesheim city square in April 1945]]

Early in [[World War II]], Nazi roundups of the Jewish population began, and hundreds of Hildesheim's Jews were sent to [[Nazi concentration camps|concentration camps]]. Hildesheim was the location of a [[Forced labour under German rule during World War II|forced labour]] subcamp of the Nazi prison in [[Celle]], and a subcamp of the [[Neuengamme concentration camp]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.bundesarchiv.de/zwangsarbeit/haftstaetten/index.php?action=2.2&tab=7&id=1826|title=Außenkommando des Zuchthauses Celle in Hildesheim|website=Bundesarchiv.de|access-date=9 January 2024|language=de}}</ref><ref name=ushm>{{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|pages=1147–1148|isbn=978-0-253-35328-3}}</ref> After the dissolution of the latter, the surviving prisoners were sent on a [[Death marches during the Holocaust|death march]] to [[Hanover|Ahlem]].<ref name=ushm/> The city was heavily damaged by [[Bombing of Hildesheim in World War II|British air raids]] in 1945, especially on 22 March. Although Hildesheim had little military significance,<ref name="bb44i">{{cite Q |Q131176036 |mode=cs1}}</ref>{{rp|i,356}} two months before the end of the war the historic city was [[Strategic bombing during World War II|bombed]] as part of Britain's [[Area Bombing Directive]] in order to undermine German civilian morale. As a result, 29% of the houses were destroyed and 45% damaged, while only 26% of the houses remained undamaged. The centre, which had retained its medieval character until then, was almost leveled. Destruction in the city as a whole was estimated at 20 to 30 percent.<ref>http://archiv.nationalatlas.de/wp-content/art_pdf/Band5_88-91_archiv.pdf {{Bare URL PDF|date=March 2022}}</ref> Around 200 out of 800 half-timbered framed houses survived.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.hildesheimer-geschichte.de/die-bauwerke/geb%C3%A4ude-und-bauwerke/ | title=Gebäude und Bauwerke }}</ref>
 
During the war, valuable world heritage materials had been hidden in underground cellars. After the war and its aftermath, priority was given to rapid building of housing, and concrete structures took the place of the wrecked historic buildings. Most of the major churches – two of them now UNESCO World Heritage sites – were rebuilt in the original style soon after the war.