Breda
There was no organized Jewish community in Breda prior to the
introduction of full civic equality in the Netherlands in 1796.
Indeed, a municipal resolution of 1747 forbade Jews to even stop at
Breda except during annual fairs and celebrations. The very same
resolution did, however, provide for exceptions.
A small Jewish community arose in Breda early in the nineteenth
century. At first, the community held religious services in a
building named "De Blauwe Hand," located behind the Haagdijk. In
1823, the growing community obtained the right to bury its dead at
a Jewish cemetery on the Vrachelse heath, established in 1810 by
the Jews of the town of Oosterhout. When the Oosterhout
community was later dissolved, the cemetery was taken over by the
Jewish community of the town of Geertruidenberg. The Geertruidenberg
was later merged into the Jewish community of Breda.
In 1845, the Breda community
constructed a synagogue in the Schoolstraat. The community also had
its own school. Voluntary organizations included a council to serve
the poor, a society for assistance to the poor and infirm, and a
women's society for the care of the synagogue. In the early years
of the twentieth century, a society countering the aims of Zionism
was founded. A Jewish literary and theatrical society was active
during the 1920's. In 1900 a conflict within the community resulted
in a schism that lasted until 1904.
By 1911, the Jewish population of Breda reached its peak. By that
time, most of the Jews of Breda lived in the city's Haagdijk
quarter and worked in sectors including trade, hat making, cigar
making, the meat industry, and building demolition. In the early
decades of the twentieth century, several Jews came to serve on
Breda's city council. During the 1920s, the Kwatta Cocoa and
Chocolate factory, owned by the Jewish Stokvis brothers, was the
city's largest single employer.
During the German occupation of the Netherlands in the Second
World War the same anti-Jewish measures were applied in Breda as
elsewhere. In December, 1942, most of the Jews of Breda were
deported to Nazi death camps. Few of them returned. A small group
of Breda Jews, however, managed to go into hiding and escape
deportation. In the surroundings of Breda, a total of eighty Jews
successfully hid from the Germans, aided in part by resistance
groups.
During the War, the Breda synagogue was damaged and plundered by
Dutch Nazis, members of the NSB, the pro-Nazi Netherlands' National
Socialist Party. Beginning in 1952, the remaining Jews of Breda
gathered in a synagogue improvised in a room in a private home. In
1971, the community purchased a building on the Dr. van
Mierlostraat and converted it into a synagogue. For most of the
post-war period, the former synagogue on the Schoolstraat was used
as a workplace. By 1992, it was restored and re-consecrated.
Religious services are now held there regularly. The synagogue also
houses a small library. Since 2002, the Schoolstraat synagogue is
owned by the local orthodox community (NIG). In 1983, the Liberal
(Reformed) Jewish community of the province of Brabant established
its own synagogue in the nearby village of Terheijden.
Jewish population of Breda and vicinity:
| 1809 | 75 |
| 1840 | 226 |
| 1869 | 168 |
| 1899 | 284 |
| 1930 | 181 |
| 1951 | 55 |
| 1971 | 74 |
| 1998 | 49 |
Collectie en mediatheek
Programma der psalmen, gebeden en gezangen, tot het afsmeeken van den zegen Gods op de...
1879-01-11
Programma der psalmen, gebeden en gezangen in de synagoge van Breda ter gelegenheid
van het huwelijk tussen Willem III en prinses Emma van Waldeck-Pyrmont, 1879
Collectie > Documenten > 00009835
meer treffers in Collectie > Documenten
Behouwen reys der nieuwe / VLUGTELINGEN.....
1763
Rijm geïllustreerd met twee prenten. Op de rechter prent vluchten acht joden met
een schip uit Culemborg waar zij hun kwade praktijken hebben uitgeoefend, ze gaan ...
Collectie > Museumstukken > 07335
Chocoladeblik
object, chocoladeblik. materiaal, metaal & blik. hoogte, 19.7. breedte, 9.4. diepte,
2.7. collectie, Joods Historisch Museum, collectie Jaap van Velzen. ...
Collectie > Museumstukken > 07749
Overzichtsfoto
1930 (ca.)
Interieur van de synagoge in de schoolstraat in Breda, circa 1930.
Collectie > Fotos > 40011380
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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
Jubileum-uitgave Levend Joods Geloof
1981
Jubileum-uitgave Levend Joods Geloof.
Collectie > Literatuur > 11000529
meer treffers in Collectie > Literatuur
De affaire (deel 5) : De vier van Breda
In 1972 barst een emotioneel debat los over de vraag of drie Duitse oorlogsmisdadigers,
die tot levenslang veroordeeld zijn, lang genoeg gestraft zijn en kunnen ...
Collectie > Audiovisueel > 40001166
