Leek
Jews began to settle in Leek early in the eighteenth century.
The arrival of Jewish peddlers and livestock dealers from Germany
during the second half of the century caused their numbers to rise.
A Jewish cemetery, located on the present-day Roomsterstraatweg in
the settlement of Diepswal near Leek, was in operation from 1783 on
and was officially purchased by the Leek community in 1790.
In 1808, the Jews of Leek built a synagogue, located on Boveneind.
The synagogue was consecrated in 1811. In 1911, exactly a century
later, the Leek community built a new synagogue on the very same
site. A Jewish school was also located on Boveneind. In Roden near
Leek, two Jewish families held religious services at their homes
for a time during the 1840's.
Official organizations within the Leek community included a
synagogue directorate and a synagogue council. Voluntary
organizations including a number of men's study fellowships and
charitable organizations, a women's society that provided aid to
the sick, and a social society for the unmarried. A choir was
formed early in the twentieth century and a youth organization was
founded just prior the Second World War.
In
1905, an internal conflict created a schism within the Leek
community. For a number of years thereafter there were two separate
communities in Leek, each holding its own religious services. By
1910, the number of poor Jews in Leek had risen to the point that
the community founded a shelter for the Jewish needy, including
many elderly Jews.
During the Second World War, almost all the Jews of Leek were
deported and murdered in Nazi death camps. Only a few Jews from
Leek managed to survive the war in hiding. The synagogue's Torah
scrolls were hidden in Amsterdam and the synagogue building and
that of the Jewish school came through the war undamaged. Both
buildings were put to new uses after the war,. The former Jewish
school is now a protected monument and, since 1995, houses an
educational center.
A plaque honors the deported and murdered Jews of Leek. The
cemetery at Diepswal is maintained by the local authorities. In
January 2006 some gravestones, broken and for years stored in
the house for the ritual cleansing of the dead, were renovated
and put back on the Diepswal cemetery.
Aduard
In 1985, a monument was unveiled in the nearby village of Aduard
bearing the names of Jewish residents murdered during the Second
World War. The name of one of the village's streets is also
dedicated to the memory of its vanished Jewish
community.
Jewish population of Leek and surroundings:
| 1809 | 59 |
| 1840 | 119 |
| 1869 | 205 |
| 1899 | 155 |
| 1930 | 105 |
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
1949 (ca.)
Prentbriefkaart van het Boveneind met synagoge in Leek, circa 1949.
Synagoge is het vijfde huis aan de linkerzijde.
Collectie > Fotos > 40006137
meer treffers in Collectie > Fotos
[geen titel]
1924
titel, [geen titel]. bron, Centr. Blad voor Israelieten, vol. 40(1924), nr.
2, p. 5. materiaal, bericht. trefwoorden, Eibergen jubileum ...
Collectie > Joodse pers > 20000914
meer treffers in Collectie > Joodse pers
Klein en groot zijn daar gelijk : de Joodse begraafplaatsen in de provincie Groningen
2009
Klein en groot zijn daar gelijk : de Joodse begraafplaatsen in de provincie Groningen.
Collectie > Literatuur > 12015341
