The house

As a concluding remark in its survey, the Regional Association of the Rhineland’s House Research division writes: “Thanks to the building having been forgotten as a Jewish house, there is the unique opportunity in Dingden to make the exhibits still in existence in situ on that account come alive again, in order thereby to make a contribution to the process of coming to terms with Jewish cultural history.” A large number of finds have come to light in the Humberg House and still today show evidence of Jewish influence.

In one room, a bricked-in basin was excavated in October 2002. This mikveh was used for ritual cleansing. Traces of a mezuzah were found in the door frame. A mezuzah is a capsule containing a text from the Torah. The capsule and its contents are fastened to one of the door posts. The helpers excavated a kiln under a wooden floor: a dressed stone, on which barley had been roasted, which was then used to brew beer. The butchery has been carefully and painstakingly reconstructed. The typical wall decoration has remained intact. After the wallpaper had been removed, marble veneers were found on the walls. They had been well preserved and were now visible once again. The imprint of the company nameplate of the Humberg family (“Abraham Humberg – Livestock Trader”) is still visible today, next to the entrance. It had already been chipped off here by members of the SA on 30 March 1933, the day on which Hitler came to power.