Gulpen
Jews
settled in Gulpen in the middle of the eighteenth century. At
first, the local population was hostile to the new arrivals and a
number of near violent incidents took place. By 1786, the Jewish
population of Gulpen was sufficiently large for the requisite ten
adult males to be found for prayer. Religious services commenced to
be held in an improvised synagogue in a private residence.
In 1818, the community at Gulpen was officially recognized as a
Bijkerk (local community) within the district of the
Ringsynagoge (regional community) at Eijsden. In 1823, the Gulpen
community built a synagoge of its own, located on the present-day
Kiebeukel (the former Kippenheuvel). The Jews of Gulpen also
organized a Jewish school for their children and inaugurated a new
school building in 1875. Jewish communal organizations at Gulpen
included men's and women's associations, both originally founded as
burial societies. The community buried its dead in the Jewish
cemetery on the Rijksweg.
The
Jewish population of Gulpen peaked in about 1870. By the outset of
the twentieth century, the number of Jews at Gulpen declined to the
point that the community was merged with that at Vaals, whose numbers also were
declining. In 1935, the combined community was officially renamed
Gulpen-Vaals.
Under the German occupation of the Netherlands during the Second
World War all the Jews of Gulpen-Vaals were deported to Nazi death
camps in Poland where they were murdered. Not a single Jew returned
to Gulpen and Vaals after the war. What was left of the synagogue
building, which had been in poor condition even prior to the war,
was used as a stable and by a cheese-factory. Years
later a private residence was built on this spot. In 1947
the Jewish community at Gulpen-Vaals was officially dissolved and
the locale placed under the jurisdiction of the community at Maastricht.
The Jewish cemeteries at Gulpen and at Vaals presently are
maintained by the local authorities. In 1989, a monument to the
Jews of Gulpen murdered during the war was unveiled on the
Kiewegracht in Gulpen. A smaller such monument can be found at the
Jewish cemetery in Gulpen.
Jewish population of Gulpen and surroundings:
| 1809 | 36 |
| 1840 | 66 |
| 1869 | 80 |
| 1899 | 64 |
| 1930 | 37 |
Collectie en mediatheek
[Joodse begraafplaats te Gulpen]
1920
Gezicht op de Joodse begraafplaats te Gulpen. Donkere grafstenen en
-monumenten temidden van groen gras, bomen en struiken.
Collectie > Museumstukken > B0359
meer treffers in Collectie > Museumstukken
Dossier
Dossiers (158) van de Commissie voor Oorlogsschade mbt 155 joodse
gemeentes (Amsterdam en mediene), 1945-1950.
Collectie > Documenten > B0005954
Uitnodiging
1988-04-11
Uitnodiging voor expositie ivm herdenkingsmonument Gulpen, 1988.
Collectie > Documenten > 00003799
Prentbriefkaart
1920 (ca.)
Prentbriefkaart van de Kippenheuvel in Gulpen met synagoge, circa 1920.
Collectie > Fotos > 40006196
Overzichtsfoto
1930 (ca.)
Overzichtsfoto van de Kippenheuvel in Gulpen met op de achtergrond
(gebouw met torentje) de synagoge, circa 1930.
Collectie > Fotos > 40006301
Verslag van de handelingen der Permanente Commissie tot de Alg. Zaken van het Ned. Isr....
Tweede deel en slot van het jaarverslag van de Permanente Commissie
over de periode juni 1907 tot juni 1908.
Collectie > Joodse pers > 20063726
meer treffers in Collectie > Joodse pers
De synagoge van Maastricht en de synagogen elders in Limburg
1967
De synagoge van Maastricht en de synagogen elders in Limburg.
Collectie > Literatuur > 12003075
