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The Jewish community of Apeldoorn
Source: S.
Laansma
In 1770 there
were already some Jews in Apeldoorn,
hailing from Germany. The first
Jewish family settled in Apeldoorn
about 1798. The head of the family
was the merchant David Joel with his
wife Rachel. They had four children.
The family, who had to pay taxes,
was duly registered in the
Cedulen van Ambtlasten from 1800
and 1801 and was taxed with an
amount of one guilder. At the time
that was not a small sum. The father
died before 1811 and his widow with
her children moved to Vaassen. One
son, Jacob, remained in Apeldoorn,
where he died in 1830, under the
name Davids Joel de Jong. He was not
married.
About 1800 a
second Jewish family settled there.
The head of the family was the
merchant Manus Koppel with his wife
Berendina
Rachel.
Manus Koppel was a Cohen, a Jewish
priest, who are descendants of
Aharon, the brother of
Moses.
The couple had six children. Since
there was no Jewish community in
Apeldoorn, the few Jews there were
members of the Deventer community.
When the
adoption of family names became law,
there appeared names like de Jong
and de Vries. All the children of
David Joel's widow returned to
Apeldoorn. At the start of the 19th
century one son, David de Jong,
started a Jewish house community, which probably
was a house-synagogue.
During the last
year of the French occupation
(1813), the communities of Apeldoorn
and Vaassen compiled a summary of
the inhabitants. Three Jewish
families were registered in
Apeldoorn and two in Vaassen.
The Verklaring der
Rechten van den Mensch en van de
Burger, ensured the emancipation
of the Jews.
The synagogue
Since 1855 there
was a house synagogue at the Waterloo Boulevard. As
mentioned before, the Apeldoorn Jewish community had to
use house synagogues, during the 19th
century. Only in 1890 was a real synagogue built in the
Paschlaan, with a school and a mikve. The
building was surrounded by a modern iron grid.
In December 1890
the synagogue was inaugurated with a
beautiful ceremony. The congregation
was addressed bby chief rabbi
Justus Tal. The Jews of Apeldoorn had now their own
kehilla, which in 1892 counted 62 Jews. /span>
DuDuring the years
several chazanim served in the synagogue. The
chazan usually was also the teacher and shochet.
There was also a shamash who had to prepare the
synagogue for the service and who had to take care of
the heating and the lighting. One of his other tasks was
the collecting of the membership fees.
About 1930 it
was decided to enlarge the >shul. The enlarged
building was completed in March 1932. The solemn
congregation was addressed by J. Vredenburg, the chief
rabbi of Gelderland.
The synagogue
received many presents: A silver
crown for the new
Torah, a Torah mantle, a silver shield, a
silver yad, two marriage chairs and financial
donations.
In August 1941,
at the time of the German
occupation, the synagogue was
brutally burned. After the war
services were held in a house, which
was not suited for this purpose at
all.
In February 1960
the new synagogue - situated at the
same place where the old synagogue
had been built - was ceremoniously
inaugurated. The new building had a
specious lobby, a community hall and
a small kitchen.
The walls were
covered with mahogany wood. Copper
candlesticks and a copper crown,
remnants of the old synagogue,
illuminated the synagogue. Several
leaded windows were also saved,
together with the old Torah
rolls and silver ornaments.
On the street
side, where the light streams inside
through the antique leaded windows,
fourteen Jewish motives adorn the
wall. Amongst them one finds the two
stone tables and the symbols of the
twelve tribes. These adornments were
presented
by
the Apeldoorn municipality in honor
of the Jews murdered during the war.
On the roof of the synagogue a large
illuminated mogen dovid was
placed, which is unique in the
Netherlands.
In 1978 the
Jewish community counted thirty six
members; services [are] were held on
the High Holydays only.
The cemetery
The present
Jewish cemetery of Apeldoorn dates
from 1892. Till then the members of
the Apeldoorn Jewish community were
buried in Deventer. In order to be
buried there, one had to be a
registered member of the community.
Membership was
attained by birth or could be bought
(inkopen) by Jews living
outside Deventer. These members
received a kind of diploma, which
today we would call a membership
card. They became so called
immatriculated members, which
gave them the right to be buried
there.
Already from the
start of the 19th century, Jews from
Apeldoorn were buried in the Jewish cemetery of
Deventer. The last of such burials took place in 1892.
In the meantime
a new Jewish cemetery has been opened in Deventer. Most
old gravestones have disappeared, although some old
ones, dating from 1880 were discovered. Probably thirty
members of the Apeldoorn community were buried in
Deventer, between 1833 and 1892.
InIn January 1890
Apeldoorn appointed a cantor. They now had their own
shul and subsequently plans were made for their own
cemetery.
At the request
of the Jewish community from May
1892, the Apeldoorn authorities
granted a parcel of land of 20 by 20
meters for a synagogue. span>
A fence of at
least two meters high had to be erected and space had to
be reserved for people who died from a contagious
disease. Within a very short time work was started. The
plot was fenced off, and a small metaher house
(for the required cleansing of the bodies) was built.
During the years the cemetery was enlarged.
In July 1950 a
monument was erected in the memory
of those deported. The cemetery is
being cared for by the Apeldoorn
community.
Religious
education and chazaniem
In the beginning
almost no Jewish education
could be provided. There was a Jewish teacher in
Apeldoorn, but it is not sure whether he taught Judaism.
About 1830 there was a prosperous Jewish family which
could afford a private teacher. It was too far for the
pupils to travel to Deventer to be taught there.
Only in 1856
started somebody to arrange services in one of his rooms
at the Loolaan. This room also became a home synagogue.
In 1888 somebody
wanted to send his child to the
Jewish teacher in Deventer and the
community agreed to pay for travel.
Only in 1890 the Apeldoorn community
got their own teacher, who also
functioned as cantor and secretary.
The Jewish school was opened with
twenty pupils.
Another
community member served as a
butcher. After the war there were
only a few Jewish families left.
Their children were taught by a so
called travelling teacher.
After 1945 the
buildings of the Apeldoornse
Bosch, the former Jewish home
for psychologically disturbed
patients, were used for children who
had survived the concentration
camps.
Cultural life
Gemilous
Hassodim
was an
association for men and Hadras
Noshim for women. There was a
Jewish theater association, a
literature association and a song
and amusement group. The NZB, the
Dutch Zionist Organization and the
Zionistic youth movement were also
active in Apeldoorn.
Jewish
professions
There were
Jewish merchants, butchers, teachers and a Jewish paper
manufacturer. There also was a Jewish municipal
collector and during the first half of the 19th
century there were collectors for the state lottery.
There was a rag merchant and a skin salter. As mentioned
before the kehilla employed a schouchet, a
chazzan and a sjammes, a beadle.
The sad end
592 men, women
and children from the Jewish
community of Apeldoorn did not
return. Their fate was shared by
the 869 patients and staff from
the Apeldoornse Bos.
AdAdditional reference:-The
Tryptich- Famous Institutions-Apeldoornse
Bos:-
Extracted from source:-Yael Benlev-de Jong
Translated from Dutch:-Mechel Jamenfeld
Editing:-Ben Noach
Final editing:-Hanneke Noach