Schoonhoven
Tolerant policies on the part of the city fathers of Schoonhoven
enabled a Jewish community to take root in the town during the
mid-eighteenth century.
During the early years of the Schoonhoven community, local Jews
gathered to pray in a private home on the Nes. Ground next to the
house was purchased in 1767 for use as a Jewish cemetery. The
cemetery was enlarged a century later. The statutes of the Jewish
community at Schoonhoven were formalized in 1789. In 1817, the
community furnished an upstairs room in a house on the Kerkstraat
to serve as its synagogue.
In 1823 the 17th-century house Brandenburg was purchased
to be converted in a synagogue with a schoolroom. It was only in
1838 that this new synagogue was consecrated. A new façade was
added in 1868, to be followed by a ritual bath in 1875.
During the 1860's, a conflict within the community
led to a split. The dissident faction set up a separate synagogue
in the Lopikerstraat but was denied permission to establish a
cemetery of its own. The conflict soon was resolved and the
community reunited.
Throughout the nineteenth century, most of the Jews in Schoonhoven
worked as slaughterers and butchers. Smaller numbers dealt in gold,
silver, and textiles. The local Jewish population set into decline
as the century came to a close. By the eve of the Second World War,
the number of Jews still residing in Schoonhoven had fallen to the
point that community activities practically ceased to exist.
Under the German occupation of the Netherlands during the Second
World War, all but two of the Jews living in Schoonhoven were
deported and murdered. The two survivors escaped deportation and
death by going into hiding. The interior of the synagogue was
vandalized during the war but the building itself managed to come
through the occupation unharmed. The Schoonhoven community's Torah
scrolls were brought to Amsterdam early in the war and later were
recovered.
The Jewish community at Schoonhoven was officially dissolved in
1947 and the location placed within the jurisdiction of the Jewish
community at Rotterdam. The Schoonhoven
synagogue was sold soon after the war. The building was set to a
number of uses in the years that followed. Since 1983, it is home
to the Edelambachthuys, a museum for the art of silversmithy. The
Jewish cemetery (located between Wal and Nes streets) has been
declared a municipal monument and is maintained by the local
authorities. A plaque in memory of the Jews of Schoonhoven murdered
during the Second World War was affixed to the wall of the cemetery
in 1990.
Jewish population Schoonhoven and surroundings:
| 1809 | 116 |
| 1840 | 177 |
| 1869 | 193 |
| 1899 | 55 |
| 1930 | 19 |
Collectie en mediatheek
Asbak
object, asbak. maker, onbekend (T). materiaal, metaal & zilver. hoogte, 3.4. breedte,
10.5. diepte, ø 8.0. collectie, Joods Historisch Museum, collectie Jaap van ...
Collectie > Museumstukken > 07653
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
[Binnenland] : Benoemingen
Benoemingen door de Permanente Commissie in diverse schoolbesturen.
Collectie > Joodse pers > 20031865
meer treffers in Collectie > Joodse pers
Twee eeuwen joods leven in Schoonhoven
1987
Twee eeuwen joods leven in Schoonhoven.
Collectie > Literatuur > 11000770
