Delfzijl
Delfzijl was one of the first places in the Dutch province of
Groningen where Jews settled.
In 1655, a small group of Jews from the town of Emden received
permission to live in Delfzijl. They were granted the right to
perform religious duties including weddings, circumcisions, and
Jewish burials. In the same year, they established a cemetery on
the present-day Bredelaan in the nearby village of Farmsum. The
cemetery was used by Jews from throughout the vicinity and was
expanded once in 1703 and again in 1775.
During the eighteenth century, most Jewish residents
of Delfzijl worked as traders in cattle, meat, or textiles. The
community maintained ongoing commercial links with the Jews of
Emden. At the close of the century, a number of German Jews moved
to Delfzijl and Farmsum. In all, the economic situation of Jews in
both places was quite reasonable.
In 1821, during the rationalization of Jewish institutions by the
newly-installed official Jewish consistory of the Netherlands,
Delfzijl was designated a regional center (Ringsynagoge).
At the time, the Jews of Delfzijl held their religious services in
a former cavalry stable. In 1842, King Willem II donated the former
stable to the community. The community then sold the building and
constructed and consecrated a new synagogue. That synagogue served
the community until 1887 when it was sold in turn. A third
synagogue, located on the Singel, was completed and consecrated in
1888. It was restored in 1931 and used by the until the Second
World War.
A series of conflicts in the Delfzijl community led to a split that
lasted from 1857 until 1860. Throughout the nineteenth century, the
Delfzijl community maintained a complement of voluntary
organizations that included a burial society, a women's society for
the care of the synagogue, a society for the study of Jewish law,
and a society for the provision of kosher food to Jewish patients
in the hospitals of the province. By the mid-nineteenth century,
the Delfzijl community had established its own religious school,
which functioned until 1921. Local Jewish secular institutions
eventually included two theater societies and choral societies.
During the early-twentieth century, the directors of the synagogue
were actively involved in the care of the Jewish poor. Membership
in the Jewish community of Delfzijl reached its apogee in the
late-nineteenth century and slowly declined thereafter.
In
March, 1942, during the midst of the Second World War, the Jews of
Delfzijl were expelled to Amsterdam. From there the majority were
deported to Nazi death camps and murdered. Throughout the war the
Germans used the Delfzijl synagogue as a storage place for
coal.
In 1947, the Jewish community of Delfzijl was officially dissolved
and administratively merged into that of the city of Groningen. In
1948, the former synagogue was converted into a bath house. It now
also houses the local offices of the Salvation Army. Since 1952,
the cemetery at Farmsum is maintained by the municipal goverment of
Delfzijl.
In 1982, a monument was unveiled in the local town hall of in
memory of the Delfzijl's vanished Jewish community. In 1992, a
plaque commemorating the fiftieth anniversary of the deportation of
local Jews was affixed to the façade of Delfzijl's railroad
station.
In 1989, an exhibition was held in the nearby Termunten in memory
of the Jews of that village murdered during the Second World
War.
Jewish population of Delfzijl and surroundings:
| 1640 | 5 |
| 1660 | 50 |
| 1809 | 64 |
| 1840 | 109 |
| 1869 | 143 |
| 1899 | 196 |
| 1930 | 134 |
Collectie en mediatheek
Dossier
Dossiers (158) van de Commissie voor Oorlogsschade mbt 155 joodse
gemeentes (Amsterdam en mediene), 1945-1950.
Collectie > Documenten > 00005954
meer treffers in Collectie > Documenten
Prentbriefkaart
1916
Prentbriefkaart met foto; schroothandelaar Raphael (Felix) Pais
en zijn broer Joseph in militaire kleding, 1916.
Collectie > Fotos > 40005744
meer treffers in Collectie > Fotos
[Binnenland] : Amsterdam
Vermelding van benoemingen met betrekking tot de Ned. Isr. schoolbesturen.
Collectie > Joodse pers > 20031385
meer treffers in Collectie > Joodse pers
Ze waren onder ons : 300 jaar joden in Delfzijl 1642 - 1942
1980
Ze waren onder ons : 300 jaar joden in Delfzijl 1642 - 1942.
Collectie > Literatuur > 11500271
