Roermond
Roermond was one of the first places in the Netherlands where
Jews are reported to have lived. Archival evidence indicates that
Jews resided in Roermond continuously between 1275 and 1443. During
the mid-16th century, two Jewish families lived in Roermond. The
Hof van Gelre -- the court of the dukedom
of present-day Gelderland -- attempted to have the two
families evicted but the town council of Roermond appears to have
ignored their demand. The outcome of the affair is unknown.
Jews
did not appear again in Roermond until early in the 19th century.
With the restructuring of the organization of Dutch Jewry by the
Nederlands-Israëlitisch Kerkgenootschap or central
consistory in 1821, the Jews of Roermond were assigned to the
Bijkerk or local community at nearby Sittard. In 1828, the Jewish
community at Roermond was declared a Bijkerk in its own
right and, in 1850, was elevated to the status
Ringsynagoge or regional community.
From 1822 on, the Jews of Roermond gathered to pray in a private
home. By 1850, the Roermond community had grown to the point that
it was able to purchase a house on the Hamstraat having an adjacent
plot of land on which to build a synagogue. The newly-constructed
synagogue was consecrated in 1853. The existing house was converted
into a school with a separate apartment for the synagogue's
sexton.
The Roermond community made use of the of the local public
cemetery, the present day Oude Kerkhof, which was opened on the
Herkenbosscherweg in Roermond in 1785. Two Jewish sections opened
round 1826 and 1860. The Jews of Roermond also may have used a
small Jewish cemetery on the Weerderweg in the village of Linne
during the 19th century.
The Jewish community at Roermond was managed by a directorate
and a council. Voluntary organizations included a burial society,
torah study fellowships, and societies that provided aid to
travelers, needy women, and new and expectant mothers. The
community also supported its own Jewish school.
The
Jewish population of Roermond began to decline toward the end of
the nineteenth century. During the 1930s, the arrival of Jewish
refugees from Germany lent new life to the local Jewish
community.
Under the German occupation of the Netherlands during the Second
World War, Jewish children were expelled from Roermond's public
schools at the start of the 1941 school year and a separate Jewish
school was established. The school remained open until the last
Jews were deported from Roermond in April of 1943. The majority of
the Jewish population of Roermond was deported between August 1942
and April 1943 and subsequently murdered in Nazi death camps in
Poland. Many Jews hid from deportation in villages in the
surroundings of Roermond. The Roermond synagogue was used as stable
during the war and was was destroyed by a bomb shortly before the
end of hostilities.
The Jewish community at Roermond was reestablished after the war. A
new synagogue was built on the site of the old. In 1986, due to
declining membership, the Roermond community was merged with those
of Heerlen, Maastricht,
and Venlo to
form the NIHS (regional congregation) of Limburg. The
Roermond synagogue ceased to be used thereafter.
A Star of David and Tablets of the Law inscribed in stone on the
façade of the building of the former Jewish school is all that is
left to remind us of the vanished Jewish community at Roermond. In
May 2007 a monument in remembrance of the 133 Jews from Roermond
who were murdered in the Second World War, was unveiled at the
courtyard of the former synagoge on the Hamstraat.
The local Jewish cemetery is maintained by the municipality.
Jewish population of Roermond and surroundings:
| 1840 | 132 |
| 1869 | 139 |
| 1899 | 113 |
| 1930 | 55 |
| 1951 | 19 |
| 1971 | 16 |
Collectie en mediatheek
Fotoalbum
Twee losbladige fotoalbums met 148 kleurenfoto's van joodse
begraafplaatsen in Nederland, jaren '80.
Collectie > Fotos > 40006664
meer treffers in Collectie > Fotos
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
Van onzen Eindhovenschen Correspondent.
Verslag van een bijeenkomst met als doel de verkiezing van een opperrabbijn voor
het gecombineerde ressort Noord-Brabant-Limburg. Er waren drieendertig afgevaardigden ...
Collectie > Joodse pers > 20061610
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
