Venlo
Jews first settled in Venlo during the second half of the 14th
century, at a time when Venlo was enjoying a period of prosperity.
A street in Venlo named Jodenstraat (Jews' Street) dates
from this time. At the outset of the 15th century several Jews were
active as money lenders and pawnbrokers in Venlo. Jews seem to have
left Venlo following the decline of the city's economy during the
1460s. Almost a century later, in 1544, three Jews were granted
permission to settle with their families in Venlo to establish and
run a lending bank. They also were granted permission to ritually
slaughter animals for meat and to establish a cemetery. Their
rights were revoked two years later.
Jews
did not settled in Venlo again until after the granting of civil
rights to the Jews of the Netherlands at the close of the 18th
century. Most of the first arrivals were Jews from Germany. The
first synagogue service to be held in Venlo in modern times took
place early in the 19th century in an attic room on the
Keulsepoort. In 1827, the community's synagogue was relocated to a
building that had once housed the local protestant poorhouse.
In 1828, the Jews of Venlo were recognized as comprising an
independent community. Prior to then, they had been considered
members of the Jewish community at Sittard. In 1865, a new
synagogue was built on the Maasschriksel supported in part by
donations from King Willem I, the provincial and municipal
authorities, and private donors. At the time, the Jewish population
of Venlo was at its peak.
During the mid-19th century the Jewish community of Venlo was
governed by a board and council. Other official community bodies
included a board for administering aid to the poor. The Jews of
Venlo also maintained social and cultural voluntary organizations.
Jewish education was provided to the children of the community by a
teacher who also served as cantor and ritual slaughterer. From 1820
until 1887, the Venlo community buried its dead at a Jewish
cemetery located on the Kerkhofweg. A new cemetery was established
some years later on the Ganzenstraat.
At the
turn of the 20th century, Jews in Venlo were integrated into the
society at large and lived amongst non-Jews. For the most part,
local Jews enjoyed decent economic circumstances. Most worked as
shopkeepers, butchers, or merchants, and several were
manufacturers. During the 1920s, a Jewish cultural society was
established in Venlo; the society also published a Zionist
newspaper. Several members of the Venlo community participated in
local government. During the 1930s, a large number of Jewish
refugees arrived in Venlo from Germany. The community organized a
refugee committee to assist them in settling in.
During the World War II German occupation of the Netherlands, the
Jews of Venlo suffered the same measures as Jews elsewhere in the
country. Large scale deportations took place in August, October,
and November of 1942. Approximately a quarter of the local Jewish
population managed to go into hiding and several local Jews were
able to escape abroad. During 1943, 700 Jewish prisoners from the
concentration camp at Vught were sent as forced laborers to a
German military airbase near Venlo. The last Jew remaining in Venlo
was deported from the city in April, 1943. Only a few of the Jews
deported from Venlo during the war survived to return afterward.
The Venlo synagogue was heavily damaged during an aerial
bombardment in 1944; however, some of the synagogue's Torah scrolls
and ceremonial objects were salvaged.
During the war, more than 100 Jewish children were taken in and
hidden by farmers in nearby villages including Sevenum,
Broekhuizervorst, and Tienray. In 1958, a plaque was installed on
the wall of a house at Tienray in honor of those who hid and saved
Jewish children.
The few Jews who returned to Venlo after the war attempted to
reestablish Jewish life. From 1945 to 1947 synagogue services were
held in a room in a Protestant church. A Liberal Jewish community
existed in Venlo for a short time during the 1960s. In 1965, a
decision was taken not to restore the Venlo synagogue and the
building was razed. For all intents and purposes the Venlo
community had ceased to exist by 1975. In 1986, the community was
administratively dissolved and the locale placed under the aegis of
the Jewish community of Limburg.
The local Jewish cemeteries are maintained by the municipality of
Venlo. In February 1999, a monument was unveiled in memory of local
Jews murdered during the war. In 2004, in course construction work
on the Havenkade, not far from the historic Jodenstraat, the
remains were unearthed of what might possibly be the oldest Jewish
ritual bath in the Netherlands. The bath dates to 1350.
Jewish population of Venlo and surroundings:
| 1809 | 18 |
| 1840 | 110 |
| 1869 | 135 |
| 1899 | 102 |
| 1930 | 86 |
| 1951 | 32 |
| 1971 | 32 |
Collectie en mediatheek
Wasfontein
1865
Dit wasfonteintje sierde eens het voorportaal van de synagoge op het Maasschriksel
te Venlo, waarvan de eerste steen werd gelegd op 3 april 1865. In het verslag ...
Collectie > Museumstukken > 06734
meer treffers in Collectie > Museumstukken
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
Overzichtsfoto
1926 (ca.)
Foto van Venlose jeugd in bos, circa 1926.
Collectie > Fotos > 40000940
meer treffers in Collectie > Fotos
[Binnenland] : Benoemingen
Benoemingen door de Permanente Commissie in diverse schoolbesturen.
Collectie > Joodse pers > 20031865
meer treffers in Collectie > Joodse pers
Onder de klok : georganiseerde hulp aan joodse kinderen
2012
Onder de klok : georganiseerde hulp aan joodse kinderen.
Collectie > Literatuur > 12016858
