Winschoten
Jews settled in Winschoten at the start of the second half of
the 18th century. They soon formed an organized Jewish community
which drew up statutes for approval in 1788. In 1797 a synagogue
was consecrated on the Langestraat. Prior to then, religious
services at been held in a locale on the Buiten Venne.
By the 19th century the Jewish community at Winschoten had grown to
the point that the town was second only to Amsterdam in terms of
the percentage of its population that was Jewish. By 1850, the
Winschoten community had outgrown its synagogue on the Langestraat.
A new synagogue, located in the Bosstraat, was consecrated in 1854.
Internal conflicts divided the community for a short time during
the late 1850s but by 1860 the community was reunited.
A
Jewish cemetery located on the Liefkensstraat was used by the
community between 1786 en 1828 but the exact date of the
establishment of the cemetery is unknown. After 1828, the community
established a new cemetery in the Achteruit quarter (the
present-day St. Vitusholt) just outside the town.
In 1900, the Winschoten community's Jewish school was relocated to
a new building in the Bosstraat that also housed a meeting hall and
an apartment for its teacher. At the time, the Winschoten community
was governed by a seven-member board. Other bodies and officials of
the community included a board for supervising aid to the poor and
a treasurer for collecting and disbursing aid to the Jewish
community in Eretz Israel. Local voluntary organizations included
burial societies for men and women, several cultural societies, a
religious fellowship, and a youth organization. The
Maatschappij tot Nut van de Israëlieten maintained a branch at
Winschoten.
During the 19th century, much of the Jewish population of
Winschoten was poor. The economic situation of the Jews of
Winschoten improved over the first decades of the 20th century.
Many local Jews worked in the livestock trade and the meat
industry, others in the tobacco industry. A large number of Jewish
refugees from Germany settled in Winschoten during the 1930s most
due to the proximity of Winschoten to the Dutch-German border
crossing point at Nieuweschans.
During the World War II German occupation of the Netherlands the
Jews of Winschoten were subjected to the same discriminatory
measures and treatment as Jews throughout the Netherlands. In
September of 1941, a kindergarten, elementary school, and middle
school were opened in Winschoten for Jewish children of the region
following their expulsion from public schools. The Jewish schools
remained in operation until February 1943. Between August, 1942 and
the first months of 1943 almost all Jews living in Winschoten were
arrested and sent to the detention and transit camp at Westerbork.
From there, they were deported to Nazi death camps. Only a few of
the Winschoten Jews who were deported returned alive after the war.
A small number of local Jews managed to survive the war in hiding.
The synagogue was plundered during the war but its Torah scrolls
had been hidden in Amsterdam and were recovered after the
war.
The Winschoten community's former synagogue and Jewish school
building were sold soon after the war. For many years, the
buildings served as a church of Vrijgemaakte Gereformeerde Gemeente
(Independent Reformed Community). In 1995, the former synagogue
building reopened as a gallery displaying home furnishings. The
Jewish community at Winschoten was merged into that at Groningen in
1964. A square in Winschoten bears the name Israëlplein.
The Jewish cemetery at Winschoten is now maintained by the local
authorities. A memorial stone near the cemetery's house for the
ritual preparation of the dead commemorates local Jews murdered
during the Second World War. In 1998, a plaque commemorating the
murdered Jews of Winschoten was unveiled on the wall of a building
on the Bosstraat that had once housed the local rabbinate. The
building was restored in 2001. As part of the restoration, the
former ritual bath on the ground floor was converted into a meeting
and exhibition hall for use by local Jews.
A monument inscribed with the names of each of the Jews of
Winschoten murdered during the war was unveiled in April
2005.
Jewish population of Winschoten and surroundings:
| 1797 | 100 |
| 1809 | 187 |
| 1840 | 368 |
| 1869 | 661 |
| 1899 | 852 |
| 1930 | 510 |
| 1951 | 17 |
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
Portretfoto
1875 (ca.)
Portretfoto met drie onbekende dames (wellicht Frouwke de Beer), circa 1875.
Collectie > Fotos > 40012969
Overzichtsfoto
1984
Voormalige synagoge te Winschoten, 1984.
Collectie > Fotos > 40002764
[Binnenland] : Amsterdam
Vermelding van benoemingen met betrekking tot de Ned. Isr. schoolbesturen.
Collectie > Joodse pers > 20031385
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
meer treffers in Collectie > Literatuur
Navertelling
1989
Winschoten telde voor de tweede wereldoorlog zo'n 500 joden en had daarmee na Amsterdam
het grootste percentage joodse inwoners. Slechts 15 joden uit Winschoten ...
Collectie > Audiovisueel > 40000357
