The first Jews to settle in Oisterwijk arrived from Bohemia and
Moravia during the second quarter of the eighteenth century. An
organized Jewish community soon took root. At the time, most of the
Jews in Oisterwijk worked as butchers or traders. Oisterwijk also
came to be a base for Jewish itinerant peddlers and market
vendors.
The Jewish cemetery on the present-day Hondsbergselaan at the south
of Oisterwijk dates from 1748. The first synagogue in Oisterwijk
was opened in 1758 in a building on the Lindeind. In 1762, the
community purchased a building on the Kerkeind and furnished it as
a synagogue. The community also maintained a Reis-Chevrei
(traveling fellowship) for conducting synagogue services for Jewish
attendees at the annual fairs.
The majority of the Jews of Oisterwijk moved to Tilburg beginning early in the
nineteenth century. By 1908, the community had practically ceased
to exist. A conflict then arose amongst the remaining Jews in
Oisterwijk as to whether to merge their community in that of Waalwijk or
Tilburg. The pro-Tilburg faction eventually won out.
Forty-five Jews, almost half of whom were refugees, lived in
Oisterwijk at the outset of the German occupation of the
Netherlands during World War II. A number of the Jews living in
Oisterwijk were employed at the local leather goods factory owned
by the Jewish company Adler & Oppenheimer. The majority of the
Jews in Oisterwijk were deported and murdered by the Germans during
the war.
A few Jewish families returned to Oisterwijk after the war. A
memorial stone on the grounds of the leather goods factory is
inscribed with the names of the Jewish employees of the factory
murdered during the war. The memorial stone was sculpted by Dutch
artist Jaap Kaas. The Jewish cemetery was restored in 1997; the
restoration was financed by private donations.
Jewish population of Oisterwijk:
| 1764 | 20 gezinnen |
| 1809 | 89 |
| 1840 | 51 |
| 1869 | 22 |
| 1899 | 12 |
| 1930 | 11 |
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
1985 (ca.)
Foto's (164) van grafstenen op de begraafplaats Oisterwijk, circa 1985.
Collectie > Fotos > 40001280
Overzichtsfoto
1982 (ca.)
Foto's (4) van grafstenen op begraafplaats te Oisterwijk, circa 1982.
Collectie > Fotos > 40003414
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
Vergadering van de Centrale Commissie tot de Alg. Zaken van het Ned. Isr....
Eerste deel van het verslag van een vergadering van de Centrale Commissie tot de
Alg. Zaken van het Ned. Isr. Kerkgenootschap die plaatshad in de vergaderzaal aan ...
Collectie > Joodse pers > 20065733