Heenvliet
The first Jews to arrive on the island of
Voorne-Putten settled in Geervliet, Heenvliet, Zuidland, Zwartewaal, Hellevoetsluis, and Brielle in approximately 1750. The small
community they comprised held religious services in a small private
home in Geervliet. Religious lessons were conducted at the rear of
the poorhouse in Heenvliet.
The local Jewish cemetery dates from 1781 and is located on the
Spuikade in Geervliet. The cemetery was expanded several times in
the nineteenth century.
The first synagogue on Voorne-Putten, located on the Kerkweg in
Heenvliet, was consecrated in 1807. At the time, approximately 135
Jews lived on Voorne-Putten.
Because of the considerable distances between settlements on the
island, and due to conflicts within the community, the Jews of
Brielle en Hellevoetsluis split away from the those of Heenvliet in
1809. This created financial difficulties for the Heenvliet
community, which had paid for the purchase and renovation of the
synagogue building only two years before. In 1865, the community
applied to the government for temporary financial assistance for
the maintenance of the synagogue and cemetery. The assistance the
community received enabled it to restore the synagogue in 1867,
however, no funds were forthcoming for the maintenance of the
cemetery. In 1887, the Jews of Zuidland seceded from the Heenvliet
community.
Traditionally, most of the Jews of Heenvliet worked as
slaughterers, butchers, or livestock traders, or as textile
merchants. The community maintained a society for collectioning
funds to aid the Jewish community of Palestine.
The Heenvliet community had formally ceased to function well before
the German occupation of the Netherlands during the Second World
War. The few Jews who still lived in Heenvliet and Spijkenisse at
the time of the occupation were deported and murdered.
Heenvliet was placed under the jurisdiction of the Jewish community
of Rotterdam in 1947. The synagogue and its
attached home for the teacher of the community's children was sold
in 1948 and razed following the disastrous floods of 1953. A stone
from the pediment of the synagogue is preserved at the Jewish
Historical Museum in Amsterdam and the curtain of its Holy Ark is
currently in the synagogue in Leiden. It is uncertain what happened
to the other appurtenances of the synagogue. The community's
archives were destroyed when the former synagogue was razed. The
cemetery at Geervliet was declared a national monument in 1971 and
restored in 1986. It is now maintained by the local authorities. A
street in Heenvliet bears the name of S. van Blankenstein
(1862-1942), a former head of the Heenvliet community murdered by
the Germans.
Jewish population of Heenvliet:
| 1809 | 62 |
| 1840 | 41 |
| 1869 | 54 |
| 1899 | 19 |
| 1930 | 14 |
Collectie en mediatheek
Dossier
Dossiers (158) van de Commissie voor Oorlogsschade mbt 155 joodse
gemeentes (Amsterdam en mediene), 1945-1950.
Collectie > Documenten > 00005954
Gevelsteen
1867
Gevelsteen van voormalige synagoge te Heenvliet, met Hebreeuwse inscriptie.
Collectie > Museumstukken > 06694
[Binnenlandse berichten (2)]: 's Gravenhage
1902
Verslag van drie vergaderingen : de heer JH Kann werd herkozen tot lid van de Centrale
Commissie./ Vergadering van het synagogaal ressort 's Gravenhage./ Laatste ...
Collectie > Joodse pers > 20050938
meer treffers in Collectie > Joodse pers
Matsewa : Joodse begraafplaatsen op Voorne-Putten : Geervliet en Zuidland
1998
Matsewa : Joodse begraafplaatsen op Voorne-Putten : Geervliet en Zuidland.
Collectie > Literatuur > 12006357
