The country’s bloodiest war ever, the 80th commemoration of the end of World War II in Europe, was observed on May 8th, in Europe. 6 million Israeli people were killed by the Nazis and their partners during the Holocaust, out of which there are tens of millions. Immigrants from the Netherlands were among the hardest reach. At Auschwitz, Sobibor, and another Nazi death camps, three-quarters of the Netherlands ‘ pre-war Jewish people perished. Some of the group’s ruined churches have been rebuilt 80 decades later.
Amsterdam’s second Jewish society
The second Jewish people to settle in Amsterdam in the early 17th century were the Sephardic Jews from Spain and Portugal, who emigrated to the eastern fringe of the city’s rapidly expanding city. Many of them were traders. The beautiful Portuguese synagogue in Amsterdam is a enduring reminder of their prosperity. Poorer Ashkenazi Jews from all over eastern Europe soon set foot in Amsterdam’s beach towns of Uilenburg and Rapenburg. They primarily made a living by selling fish, garments, and household goods. Although the health and housing problems were terrible, there were strong area and trust bonds. The roads were lined with churches. Just the Uilenburger church is left of all of these. It was constructed in 1766 in the Israeli city on a street that is no longer used, and it is now hidden behind a brick wall.
The temple in Uilenburger:
This is a stunning old church, and we make an effort to preserve as much of the earlier as possible and make it a place where visitors want to stay in the twenty-first century, according to Maurits Jan Vink, the foundation’s chair. Nearby Jews gathered at the Uilenburger church in huge quantities from the late 18th century until the 1940s, according to historical records, up to 600 at a time. People were prayed on a ledge above, and men prayed on the main floor. On the ground floor, poor people were fed, hens were killed, and ceremonies were held. Vink says,” It would have been packed. However, this entire neighborhood was crowded. If you lived here, you would have 10 people living on 377 square feet [35 sq meters ] and the bathroom would be outside.
A devastated society:
Some were more prone than the Jews of Uilenburg and Rapenburg when the Dutch Jews were first deported in February 1942. You needed wealth to hide out, asserts Vink. They were omitted. In the Netherlands, the Jewish population was typically 75 % of the population, but this is 95 %. So, the Uilenburger church has become a well-known location for Seder foods, local entrepreneurs, film shoots, music concerts, and Jewish weddings.” Those who did return have largely contributed to the restoration of the synagogue,” according to those who did. People are always very curious, such as,” What is it behind this wall?” Waheeda Afriat, who assists in the synagogue’s planning, says. Imri Talgam, a pianist, performed music by two French composers who left the dying camps in April.” I frequently hear that this place is like a concealed gem.” Menachem Asscher, a child of a rabbi and a gifted artist, piano, and musician, was assassinated at Auschwitz in July 1942. Leo Smit was killed at Sobibor in April 1943, making him known to detractors as Stravinsky.
Synagogue on a dam:
Another small temple is hidden in plain sight in Sliedrecht, a town in the south of the nation. It opened its doors to customers on a sunny day in March, the trip of the Hebrew vacation Purim. When my girlfriend said,” Well come take a look,” my girl said as we were really walking by,” a guy named Henk told DW. He said,” I’ve lived here in Sliedrecht for, I think, 56 years, and this is the first time I’ve ] entered the building.” Sliedrecht’s temple is difficult to miss from the outside. It’s the only one in the globe built on a levee, according to its users, making it a safe haven when the local Merwede valley floods. Around 1770, the initial Jewish people in Sliedrecht arrived. Services were conducted in houses at the time. A little church was constructed on the levee, which served as the town’s barrier, in 1845 in partnership with the nearby town of Giessendam.
The suspension of spiritual services:
However, the neighborhood was little. Regular services ended in 1920 because the synagogue was unable to raise the 10 men needed to hold ( a minyan ). Israeli activity continued until 1942, the beginning of the persecution. Sliedrecht’s Jews endured a terrible suffering from the hand-holding of native Nazis and cooperating French police. The synagogue’s inside was in remains by 1945. It was employed by a pouch company, a exist, and a craftsman in the years that followed.
A fresh start to life:
Provincial authorities decided that the abandoned church had to be destroyed in 1989 as part of a pond reinforcement program. Local residents erupted in fury and established a basis to purchase and rebuild the structure. In a nearby storehouse, the wooden structure was broken into 11 pieces and kept there. It was reassembled in 2003, 80 meters north of where it was when it was originally placed on the levee. Additionally, it was beautifully renovated using materials from a nearby church where the Jewish group had vanished.
Musical performances and guided tour
Re-establishing spiritual service was, however, a different issue. Ronald Kitsz, the head of the Sliedrecht dam church foundation, says,” When we started, we had a support once a month. The foundation’s members ( none of them Jewish ) began holding open houses, music events, and guided tours of the synagogue’s small museum, which included a collection of sacred objects from Sliedrecht’s old Jewish community.” But a few people went to Amsterdam, a few people went to Israel, and then there were not much Jewish citizens again.” It’s not just a candle, a prayer guide, a siddur, or merely a tallit, according to Ronald Kitsz. ” These things were brought from Jews whose descendants lived in Sliedrecht.” Every thing has its own unique tale, which makes it beautiful, and we are proud of that.
