Bergen op Zoom
It appears that Jews lived in Bergen op Zoom during the late
Middle Ages. According to archival evidence, local Jews were
awarded civil rights equal to those of Christian residents in 1428.
The economic decline of Bergen op Zoom at the end of the fifteenth
century led to the decline of the Jewish population of the
city.
Jews settled anew in Bergen op Zoom during the early years of the
eighteenth century. In 1793, Jews obtained a parcel of land on
which to found a cemetery on the Bergsebaan at the outskirts of the
city. In 1815, a part of the space occupied by the municipal
weighing house was acquired by the community for the construction
of a synagogue. Less than twenty years later, a new synagogue was
built on the present-day Koevoetstraat. The Jews of Bergen op Zoom
also maintained a small Jewish school which was provided with a
building of its own in 1868. Communal organizations included a
burial society and society for the maintenance of the
synagogue.
Most of the Jews in Bergen op
Zoom worked in the retail sector and were largely anonymous in the
life of the city. The Jewish population of Bergen op Zoom peaked in
the mid-nineteenth century and declined slowly thereafter.
During the Second World War the Jews of Bergen op Zoom suffered
under the same anti-Jewish measures as implemented by the Germans
throughout the Netherlands. On November 11, 1942, they were
summoned for deportation via Amsterdam to the detention camp at
Westerbork in the east of the Netherlands. A few dozen managed to
escape into hiding but the majority were ultimately transported to
Nazi death camps and murdered.
In 1958, the Jewish community of Bergen op Zoom
was formally dissolved and incorporated into that of the city of Tilburg. Since 1967,
the Jews of Bergen have been part of the community of the city of
Breda.
The interior of Bergen op Zoom's synagogue was badly damaged
during the Second World War. After the war, the synagogue was sold
and for several decades served as commercial space. In 1975, both
the synagogue building and the community's former ritual bath were
restored. Since then, they serve as a permanent memorial to the
decimated Jewish community of Bergen of Zoom and occasionally are
used to house exhibitions and meetings.
The Jewish cemetery at Bergen op Zoom is now maintained by local
authorities. Remaining space in the cemetery is used by Jews from
across the nearby Dutch-Belgian border. For more than a century,
Jews from the Belgian city of Antwerp had buried their dead at the
village of Putten, just inside the Netherlands. Many Belgian Jews
prefer burial in the Netherlands where, unlike in Belgium,
cemeteries and graves are legally protected from eventual
clearing.
The Jewish population of Bergen op Zoom and surroundings:
| 1806 | 106 |
| 1840 | 206 |
| 1869 | 86 |
| 1899 | 86 |
| 1930 | 43 |
| 1951 | 30 |
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
Verborgen in Brabantse bodem : Joodse begraafplaatsen in Noord-Brabant
2002
Verborgen in Brabantse bodem : Joodse begraafplaatsen in Noord-Brabant.
Collectie > Literatuur > 12009668
meer treffers in Collectie > Literatuur
[geen titel]
1887
titel, [geen titel]. bron, Centr. Blad voor Israelieten, vol. 3(1887), nr. 7, p.
2. materiaal, bericht. trefwoorden, Bergen op Zoom synagoge godsdienstoefening. ...
Collectie > Joodse pers > 20000484
