Author Description

Traces the fate of Düsseldorf Jewry during the Nazi period. Documents the gradual discrimination, exclusion, and persecution of the Jews, including the boycott of Jewish enterprises; the dismissal of Jewish civil servants, lawyers, and teachers; the Nazi legislation; the "Kristallnacht" pogrom; the exclusion of Jewish children from public schools; the ban of visits to theaters, cinemas, and concerts; and Aryanization. In 1933 there were 5,053 Jews in the city; in 1939 there were 2,072; and in 1941 only 1,400. Many managed to emigrate. Deportations from the region in October-December 1941 included 1,008 Jews sent to the Łódź ghetto, 998 to Minsk, and 1,010 to Riga. In 1942, 1,100 Jews were sent to Izbica, 1,947 to Theresienstadt, and 58 to Auschwitz. In 1943, 60 "Mischlinge" were sent to Theresienstadt. Excerpts from testimonies and biographies of survivors are interwoven in the chronicle. Pp. 170-197 discuss the cruelty of the Nazi "Judenreferent" (the local expert on Jewish matters), Georg Pütz. Pp. 208-278 contain brief testimonies of former residents.