*Am 9. November findet wieder ein Gedenken an die Opfer der Progromnacht 1938 statt. Auch Bürgermeister Thomas Kerkhoff (r.) und Josef Niebur (im Vordergrund) werden, wie hier im Vorjahr, teilnehmen.*

*© Archivbild Stadt Bocholt 2021*

04. November 2022Education and culture

Remembrance of Pogrom Night: It happened also in Bocholt

Public commemoration of victims on November 9 from 7:30 p.m. // Pupils of Mariengymnasium help organize memorial service at Europaplatz

Mayor Thomas Kerkhoff invites on Tuesday, November 9, at 7:30 p.m. to the public commemoration of the victims of the Reichspogromnacht to the memorial to the synagogue in front of the House of Crafts, Europaplatz 17. Interested citizens are cordially invited.

The year 2022 marks the 84th anniversary of the crimes of the Pogrom Night. At that time, in 1938, riots by Nazis against Jewish-owned buildings, Jewish cemeteries, synagogues and Jewish fellow citizens took place all over Germany, including in Bocholt. Tens of thousands of Jews were threatened, attacked, injured, deported to concentration camps or even killed. At the site of the former synagogue in Bocholt, which was also desecrated that night, citizens of the city of Bocholt have commemorated the many victims every year since, in Bocholt and throughout Germany.

Students of the Mariengymnasium, with their teacher Klaus Kohlgrüber, will read texts by Margot Friedländer and Jeanette Wolff, who was born in Bocholt. Instrumental pieces will also be heard from them.

The Bocholt synagogue stood at the site of the commemoration since 1798. The building was completely destroyed inside by Bocholt Nazis 84 years ago this night.

Salomon and Regina Seif, the sexton of the synagogue and his wife, were beaten to hospital by supporters of the NSDAP. His son Sigmar recalled in 1949 in the report filed with the Rotterdam police: "My father and mother were so badly beaten that they were taken to the hospital. In our apartment, the furniture had almost all been destroyed...."

All of Sigmar Seif's siblings, as well as his parents, were deported and murdered in the Nazi persecution of Jews. Only Sigmar Seif survived.

Mayor Thomas Kerkhoff will give a commemorative speech before the students' spoken and musical contributions. Xenophobia, exclusion of minorities and violent anti-Semitism are on the rise in Germany today. Therefore, out of responsibility before the crimes of Nazi terror, it is important to keep the suffering of the victims alive.

The silent commemoration will be closed with a prayer, which this year will be said by Pastor Matthias Hembrock. This will be followed by a period of silence. Citizens of Bocholt can join the commemoration.