Editing Gelsenkirchen (section)

===Jewish history===

====19th century====
The [[Jewish]] community of Gelsenkirchen was officially established in 1874, relatively late compared to the Jewish [[Ashkenazi]] communities in Germany. In a list of 1829 to determine the salary for the [[Chief Rabbi]] of [[Westphalia]], {{Interlanguage link|Abraham Sutro|de}}, three families were named: the families of Ruben Levi, Reuben Simon, and Herz Heimann families.<ref name="talmud.de">[http://www.talmud.de/gelsenkirchen/ "Das Judentum in Gelsenkirchen"], by Chajm Guski {{in lang|de}}</ref> With the growth of the town during the second half of the 19th century, its Jewish population also grew bigger, with about 120 Jews living in town in 1880, and a [[synagogue]] established in 1885. With the growth of the community, a bigger building was built to serve as the community school.<ref>[http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/judaica/ejud_0002_0007_0_07162.html Gelsenkirchen], Jewish Virtual Library</ref>

====20th century====
The community continued to grow and around 1,100 Jews were living in Gelsenkirchen in 1901, a number that reached its peak of 1,300 individuals in 1933. At the turn of the 20th century the [[Reform Judaism|Reform Jewish]] community was the most dominant among all Jewish communities in town, and after an [[Organ (music)|organ]] was installed inside the synagogue, and most prayers performed mostly in German instead of traditional Hebrew, the town's [[Orthodox Judaism|orthodox]] community decided to stop attending the synagogue and tried to establish a new orthodox community, led by Dr. Max Meyer, Dr. Rubens and Abraham Fröhlich, most of them living on Florastraße.<ref name="talmud.de" /> In addition, another Jewish orthodox congregation of Polish Jews was found in town.<ref>''The Encyclopedia of Jewish Life Before and During the Holocaust: A–J'' by Shmuel Spector and Geoffrey Wigoder, New York University Press 2001, [https://books.google.com/books?id=MFn3KeENnA0C&q=Gelsenkirchen&pg=PA422 p. 422], {{ISBN|9780814793565}}</ref> In 1908, a lot on Wanner Straße was purchased and served the community as its cemetery until 1936, today containing about 400 graves.<ref name="talmud.de" /> In addition, another cemetery was built in 1927 in the suburb of Ückendorf.

====Nazi Germany====
With the rise of [[Hitler]] and [[National Socialism]] in 1933, Jewish life in Gelsenkirchen was still relatively unaffected at first. In August 1938, 160 Jewish businesses were still open in town. In October 1938, though, an official ban restricted these businesses and all Jewish doctors became unemployed. In the same month, the Jewish community of the town was expelled. Between 1937 and 1939, the Jewish population of Gelsenkirchen dropped from 1,600 to 1,000. During [[Kristallnacht]], the town's synagogue was destroyed, after two thirds of the town's Jewish population had already left. On 27 January 1942, 350 among the 500 remaining Jews in town were deported to the [[Riga Ghetto]]; later, the last remaining Jews were deported to Warsaw and the [[Theresienstadt concentration camp]].

====The Gelsenkirchen transport====
On 31 March 1942, a Nazi deportation train set out from Gelsenkirchen and, carrying 48 Jews from the town area, made its way to the [[Warsaw Ghetto]]. The train was the first to deport Jews to Warsaw and not to [[Trawniki concentration camp]] in southern Poland, as used before. After it left Gelsenkirchen, the train was boarded by other Jews from [[Münster]], [[Dortmund]] and a few other stops along the way, and mostly by the Jews of [[Hanover]], 500 in number. The arrival of this transport from Westphalia and Upper Saxony was recorded in his diaries by Adam Czerniakov, the last chairman of the Warsaw Ghetto [[Judenrat]]. He stated that those older than 68 were allowed to stay in Germany. The majority of these deportees were killed later on the different death sites around modern-day Poland.<ref>[http://www.blankgenealogy.com/holocaust/Transports/Germany/March%2031%201942%20Deportation%20Transport%20from%20Gelsenkirchen%20to%20Warsaw%20Ghetto.pdf "March 31, 1942, Deportation from Gelsenkirchen to Warsaw Ghetto"] (English), citing A. Gottwaldt and D. Schulle, ''Die "Judendeportationen" aus dem Deutschen Reich 1941–1945''</ref>

====After World War II====
In 1946, 69 Jews returned to Gelsenkirchen and in 1958, a synagogue and cultural centre were built for the remaining community. In 2005, about 450 Jews were living in town. During the last decade of the 20th century, a noted number of Jews came to the town, after emigrating out of the former USSR. This situation made it necessary to extend the synagogue. Eventually, a new and bigger synagogue was built to serve the increasing Jewish community of Gelsenkirchen. The current community practices Orthodox Judaism, even though no family practices it at home.<ref name="talmud.de" /> On 16 May 2014, antisemitic graffiti were painted on the town synagogue.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://antisemitism.org.il/article/87383/swastika-synagogue-old-city|title=CFCA – Swastika on synagogue in an old city|work=antisemitism.org.il}}</ref>

====Sites====
The building at Husemannstraße 75 belonged to Dr. Max Meyer, who built it between 1920 and 1921. A [[mezuzah]] sign can still be seen on the top right side of the door.<ref name="talmud.de" /> On Florastraße, near Kennedyplatz, (formerly Schalker Straße 45), stands the house of the Tepper family, a Jewish family that vanished during the [[The Holocaust|Holocaust]]. As part of the national [[Stolperstein]] project, five bricks, commemorating the Jewish inhabitants, were installed outside the house.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.stolpersteine-gelsenkirchen.de/stolpersteine_tepper_family.htm|title=Stolpersteine Gelsenkirchen – Tepper Family lived here...|work=stolpersteine-gelsenkirchen.de}}</ref>