The former Villa Liebreich in Bocholt's Westend, shown here in 1905, was severely demolished inside by an SA squad on the night of the pogroms on 9/10 November 1938. Emilie Liebreich, badly beaten, had to be taken to hospital by \ — © Stadtarchiv Bocholt
The former Villa Liebreich in Bocholt's Westend, shown here in 1905, was severely demolished inside by an SA squad on the night of the pogroms on 9/10 November 1938. Emilie Liebreich, badly beaten, had to be taken to hospital by "surreptitious means".

Performing in the Christuskirche in Bocholt: singer Esther Lorenz (Berlin) and guitarist Peter Kuhz with their programme \ — © David Beecroft
Performing in the Christuskirche in Bocholt: singer Esther Lorenz (Berlin) and guitarist Peter Kuhz with their programme "From Toledo to Jerusalem - A musical journey through Judaism".

02. November 2023Education and culture

Bocholt remembers pogrom night 1938

Thursday, 9 November, from 7:30 p.m. public commemoration at the Europaplatz memorial // followed by concert in Christuskirche

Citizens of Bocholt are invited to a silent commemoration on Thursday at 7:30 pm at the memorial site of the former synagogue, in front of the "Haus des Handwerks" (Europaplatz 17). Mayor Thomas Kerkhoff will give the commemorative speech.

Pupils from the Mariengymnasium will report on the inhumane actions of the Nazis against Jewish citizens of Bocholt 85 years ago.

Fritz Duesing, who was born in 1922, still remembers what he saw on the morning after the pogrom night decades later: "I rode ... on my bicycle from home to my apprenticeship in Rhede shortly after 7 o'clock. At the Westend junction I came to Villa Liebreich. The front door was open, there were several people in the villa. In the corridor or hallway, a precious Chinese vase lay smashed on the floor. A mural had been cut several times with knives. I did not go any further into the villa."

Concert in Christ Church

Following the commemoration, the city of Bocholt invites you to a concert in the Christuskirche on Münsterstraße at 8:30 pm. Singer Esther Lorenz (Berlin) will present her programme "From Toledo to Jerusalem - A musical journey through Judaism" together with guitarist Peter Kuhz. Admission is free.