Hilversum
A small Jewish community existed in Hilversum as early as the
first half of the eighteenth century. At the time, the community
prayed in a private home in the Kerkstraat, near the Groeststraat.
In 1781, the city fathers of Hilversum approved the statutes of the
Jewish community and in 1788 the leadership of the community
received permission to build a public house of prayer. The
consecration of the new synagogue, located on the Zeedijk, took
place in 1789.
Beginning in 1751, the Hilversum community was
granted the use of a cemetery located on the Gooise Vaart. This
cemetery remained in use until 1863 when the community obtained
ground on the Vreelandseweg for a new cemetery and was cleared away
in 1937.
Official organizations of the Hilversum community included a
seven-member synagogue council and a council for assistance to the
poor. Voluntary organizations included a burial society, several
charitable societies, and a study fellowship. A women's society
provided for the upkeep of the synagogue and for the support of
needy new mothers. The Jewish school was located in a building on
the Zeedijk that also served as the residence of the community's
teacher. In 1906, the building was renovated and two full stories
were allotted to the school.
Early in the nineteenth century, most Jews in Hilversum worked as
traders or butchers. Jews also were visibly represented amongst the
market and street vendors of Hilversum. In the field of
manufacturing, two members of the Jewish De Rood family each opened
carpet weaving factories. By the end of the nineteenth century, the
rise of industrialization caused the number of Jews in Hilversum to
grow and also led greater professional diversity among them. By far
the largest increase in the Jewish population of Hilversum occurred
between 1900 and 1930.
Hilversum and surroundings was the site of a number
of central medical and social facilities maintained by Dutch Jewry.
These included the S. A. Rudelsheim Foundation and Beth Azarya home
for retarded children, the Beth Refu'a sanitarium, and the
children's health colonies of the Friedman Foundation. The De
Bergstichting for adoptive children and children from needy
families was located in the nearby town of Laren. The Zonnestraal
sanitarium cared for a large number of Jewish patients, most of
whom were diamond workers.
Many new cultural and Zionist organizations arose in Jewish
Hilversum during the first decades of the twentieth century. In
nearby Loosdrecht, a children's residence was opened by a Youth
Aliyah organization. During the 1930's, the Hilversum community
also founded a children's synagogue and published weekly and
monthly magazines. The same decade also saw the arrival in
Hilversum of many Jewish refugees from Germany.
Immediately following the German invasion of the Netherlands in
May, 1940, there was a rash of suicides amongst Jews throughout the
Netherlands. Hilversum was no exception; three Jewish suicides were
recorded there. Hilversum was and remains the center of Dutch radio
and television broadcasting. Early into the German occupation, the
AVRO broadcasting network fired its Jewish employees. Not long
after, the Jewish population of Hilversum was swelled by the
arrival of 400 German Jewish refugees expelled by the Germans from
towns in the coastal regions of the Netherlands in which they had
found refuge.
Anti-Jewish measures were begun at high speed in Hilversum during
the course of 1941. In part, this may have been because the mayor
of Hilversum was a member of the collaborationist NSB party and
also because a portion of the population of Hilversum had come out
in support of the country-wide general strike of February 1941
protesting anti-Jewish measures.
Following the expulsion of Jewish students from public schools
throughout the Netherlands, three Jewish schools were opened in
Hilversum: an elementary school, a middle school, and a high
school. In January 1942, all stateless Jews were deported from
Hilversum. In May of the same year, two hundred German Jews were
expelled from Hilversum to the Amsterdam suburb of Asterdorp. By
mid-June, the majority of Hilversum Jews were also forced to move
to Amsterdam. Deportation of patients from the Jewish medical and
social institutions in and around Hilversum commenced in March
1943. By April 1943, those Jews who still remained in Hilversum
were deported to Nazi death camps via the prison camp at the Dutch
village of Vught. Only ten percent of all Jews resident in
Hilversum in 1941 came through the war alive. A plaque at the
Jewish cemetery of Hilversum honors the memory of those who did
not.
Forty-eight students remained at the residence of the Youth Aliya
organization in Loosdrecht during 1941. Many of them succeeded in
going into hiding and several of those who were apprehended and
deported returned to the Netherlands alive after the war. In all,
more than thirty of the group survived.
The Zeedijk synagogue was plundered by the Germans in 1942.
Ceremonial objects remaining in the synagogue were stolen but the
Torah scrolls had been hidden in advance and were later recovered.
The synagogue building itself was dismantled piece by piece during
the severe fuel shortage and famine of the winter of
1944-1945.
Jewish life in Hilversum was reestablished after the war and
blossomed for a time during the 1950's and 1960's. The remains of
the ruined synagogue were sold and later razed. The Jewish school
on the Zeedijk was converted into a synagogue in 1952 but was
demolished in 1969 as part of an urban renewal project. Soon after,
the community built a new synagogue on the Laanstraat. The
Inter-Provincial Chief Rabbinate of the Netherlands, the highest
organ of Dutch Jewry, has been based in the building since 1990. In
recent years, the Laanstraat synagogue is open for religious
services only during the High Holidays. Most of the former Jewish
medical and social institutions in and around Hilversum are now
closed and new uses have been found for their physical
plants.
The Zonnestraal sanitarium remained in operation
until 1957 and housed a hospital for a few years thereafter.
Following the closure of the hospital, the facility was abandoned
and fell into decay. The building, originally designed by architect
Jan Duiker, was restored in 2003. It now houses a museum and
practices and companies in the field of health care.
Since 1998 the Jewish cemetery at Hilversum has been maintained
by attendees at a local institute for the mentally and physically
challenged.
Laren
Nearby Laren never contained an independent Jewish community.
However, Laren was home to a number of Jewish artists including
including Lion Schulman and his son David, both of whom were
members of the so-called Laren School during the first decades of
the twentieth century.
Jewish population of Hilversum and surroundings:
| 1789 | 80 |
| 1809 | 184 |
| 1840 | 160 |
| 1869 | 246 |
| 1899 | 538 |
| 1930 | 1007 |
| 1951 | 200 |
| 1971 | 150 |
| 1998 | 40 |
Collectie en mediatheek
Drukwerk
1935 (ca.)
Drukwerk van de pieuse vereniging "Tiphereth Israel" uit Hilversum met oproep voor
vergadering en uitnodiging voor de bijwoning der Hakafoth, circa 1935.
Collectie > Documenten > 00009883
meer treffers in Collectie > Documenten
Collectebus
1920-1930
object, collectebus. maker, anoniem. materiaal, blik. datering, 1920=1930. plaats,
onbekend. hoogte, 9.9. breedte, 10.3. diepte, 6.3. collectie, Joods Historisch ...
Collectie > Museumstukken > 09830
meer treffers in Collectie > Museumstukken
Prentbriefkaart
1930 (ca.)
prentbriefkaart met luchtfoto van het sanatorium
Zonnestraal in Hilversum, circa 1930.
Collectie > Fotos > 40000976
meer treffers in Collectie > Fotos
[Binnenland] : Amsterdam
Vermelding van benoemingen met betrekking tot de Ned. Isr. schoolbesturen.
Collectie > Joodse pers > 20031385
meer treffers in Collectie > Joodse pers
Hilversums historie : bombardementen op de wijk Trompenberg
1993
Hilversums historie : bombardementen op de wijk Trompenberg.
Collectie > Literatuur > 11000852
meer treffers in Collectie > Literatuur
Zonnestraal, drempels tussen lucht en aarde
Documentaire over het voormalige tbc-sanatorium Zonnestraal te Hilversum.
Collectie > Audiovisueel > 40000729
[interview met Arnold Folquinus Rodrigues Pereira]
2004
Interview met Arnold Folquinus Rodrigues Pereira, geboren 23 april 1919.
Collectie > Audiovisueel > 40001868
