Download 27 Pastoorstraat

27 Pastoorstraat
Before the Second World War Pastoorstraat was a
central point for the Arnhem Jews, and the synagogue, after a design by the Arnhem city architect Hendrik J. Heuvelink, was an important building. The
foundation stone was laid on 13 July 1852, with the
synagogue being blessed a year later on 19 August
1853. The location was a conscious choice. The house
of Jonas Daniël Meijer (1780-1834), the first Jewish
lawyer in the Netherlands, stood here until 1852. He
was born in Arnhem and lived there till 1890. Meijer
was also advisor to King Lodewijk Napoleon and to King Willem I. [1]
Around 1853 approximately 1,200 Jews lived in the capital of Gelderland. Due to the fact that the
community continued to grow, the seat of the Head Rabbi was moved to Arnhem in 1881. The building in Pastoorstraat then received the status of Dutch-Israeli main synagogue. [2] The Jewish
bathhouse was nearby, in Kerkstraat, and from 1893 the Jewish School was located in the Kippenmarkt, behind the house of God. By the end of the 1930s the number of Jews in Arnhem had risen to
about 2,100, partly due to the arrival of refugees from Germany.
Measures against the Jews
Jewish resistance
Raids
The synagogue during the Battle of Arnhem
Jewish evaders
After the liberation in 1945
Recovery
Restoration
Measures against the Jews
During the years of occupation, 1940-1945, the lives of the Arnhem
Jews changed drastically. For the first months they could go about
their lives fairly normally, but in August 1940 Jewish shops in Roggestraat and Steenstraat were daubed with racist slogans. Pamphlets were also pasted up bearing ’calls’ such as “Do not buy from
Jews” and “Jews not admitted”.[3] A month later NSB’ers tried unsuccessfully to set fire to the synagogue.
In the autumn of 1940 Jewish teachers were sacked from nonJewish schools. From then on they were only allowed to teach at
Jewish schools. Text books were radically ‘adapted’: everything that
did not fit in with the German philosophy, was removed from the
school books, such as information about Jews and Deutschfeindliche
(anti-German) writers, their poetry and novels.[4]
Early in 1941 the German state commissioner Arthur SeyssInquart’s anti-Jewish measures took on a more severe form. Jewish
footballers were no longer permitted to play for Vitesse, violinists
had to leave the Gelders Orkest (Gelderland Orchestra), people were banned from membership of the Air Defence Service, and shops were ransacked. A second attempt
to burn down the synagogue occurred on the night of 10/11 January, but nearby inhabitants managed
to extinguish the fire quite quickly. [5] The material damage was limited but the psychological blow
was enormous.
The compulsory wearing of a yellow star with the word ‘Jew’ written on it, banning from schools,
swimming pools and public parks are just a few examples of the discriminatory measures introduced
by the German occupiers.
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Jewish resistance
However, the Arnhem Jews didn’t just stand by looking helpless. Various young men and a few slightly older people joined the resistance. For some this proved fatal, for example for 38 year-old Elias
Paul Broekman. He went into hiding in Breda, and became a member of a commando unit. On 4 May
1942 Broekman was arrested by the Sicherheitsdienst (SD) “for insulting the N.S.B.” [6] He was taken to Mauthausen concentration camp in Germany, where he was shot on 29 June 1942 while
“attempting to escape”. His father Aron Broekman also died at that camp on 25 June of the same
year. [7] Elias’ wife Frederica Broekman-Mendels spent two years at Auschwitz concentration camp.
She survived the war, as did her two children Lottie and Robbie. All their effects were gone, so they
received a 21 guilders per week benefit from Arnhem council. [8]
Raids
In February 1941 the Germans carried out their first raids at a number of places in the Netherlands in
which Jews were picked up and taken to Amersfoort Camp. From there they were sent to concentration camps in Germany. The first raid on Arnhem Jews took place on 9 October 1941. Ten people were
picked up that day and sent to Mauthausen, where all of them were killed.
The following year saw more raids when the transition was made to systematic deportations. The Arnhem police were ordered by the state commissioner to make an alphabetic list of all Jewish inhabitants. The police were then supposed to go to every one of the 581 addresses and arrest the occupants. If they were not at home the gas and water supplies were cut off and the house was sealed. In
the period up to 10 December 1942, 131 houses were cleared out. The lists were continually checked
and adjusted. [9]
From October 1942 Westerbork Camp in the province of Drenthe served as Polizeiliches Durchgangslager Westerbork: the transit camp on the way to the east. Later on the well-known diarists Anne Frank and Etty Hillesum were imprisoned here before being sent to concentration camps in Germany and Poland.
The German general commissioner for security in the Netherlands, Hanns Albin Rauter, promised his
boss Heinrich Himmler in Berlin that the Jews would be very quickly dealt with. On 10 September
1942 he sent the following message:
“Am 15. Oktober wird das Judentum in Holland für vogelfrei erklärt, dh. es beginnt eine grosse
Polizeiaktion, an der nicht nur deutsche und niederländische Polizeiorgane sondern darüber der
Arbeitsbereich der NSDAP, die Gliederungen der Partie, der NSB, die Wehrmacht usw. mit herangezogen werden. Jeder Jude, der irgendwo in Holland angetroffen wird, wird in die grossen
Judenlager eingezogen.”
“On 15 October open-season will be declared on Jewry in Holland, in other words, on that date a
huge police action will begin in which not only Dutch and German police establishments will take
part, also involved will be the NSDAP, the NSB, the Wehrmacht etc.. Every Jew found anywhere
in Holland will be locked up in one of the big Jewish camps.”
At the same time Rauter ensured that all Police Corps chiefs received instructions. For Arnhem this
meant that on 10 December 1942 the police had to pick up 959 Jews.
They were held at ten assembly points awaiting transport to Westerbork Camp. Seventy policemen
were each given a list of the names and addresses of the victims to be arrested. 271 houses were
searched during the raid.
Jews were found and arrested at 138 addresses. And on that December evening the Joods Oude Liedenhuis at Markt 5 was emptied. All sixty occupants and about 20 Jewish staff members were
transported to Westerbork. Not one of them returned after the war. [10] 346 Arnhem inhabitants were finally taken to Drenthe.
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In March 1943 Rauter made it known that from 10 April all provinces, with the exception of Utrecht
and North and South Holland, had to be “Judenrein” (‘Clear of Jews’). The remaining Jews in Arnhem
were ordered to report to the station, from where they were taken by passenger train to Vught camp.
[11] Approximately 1,300 Jews were deported from the Gelderland capital. 1,162 of them died in concentration camps. Four people were executed, two in Velp and two in Nunspeet. Only about 134 Arnhem Jews who were arrested, survived the war.
The synagogue then remained empty for months. In May 1943 the premises were given a new purpose when all Dutch citizens were ordered to hand in their radios. The sets were confiscated so that the
population would by unable to listen to broadcasts from Radio Oranje on the British wavelength. The
building was packed from floor to ceiling with requisitioned radios. [12] Surrendered apparatus was
not destroyed but carefully administered and stored. This job was done by the Arnhem council which
fitted out the synagogue with storage racks. It was intended to return the radios to their owners after
the “Endsieg” (Final Victory). [13]
Children have built a snowman in front of
the synagogue in Pastoorstraat; 27 January 1941. L to R: Moosje Cohen, Fransje Staring, Rudi Bachrach, Jopie Goudeket,
Ische Cohen, Kaatje Cohen, Hannie Moonen, not identified, Siegfried Bachrach (S.
Bachrach collection)
The synagogue during the Battle of Arnhem
During the fighting in September 1944 the synagogue was once more threatened with destruction
when fire broke out in various premises in the inner city, some started by German soldiers. It was not
until 20 September that the Arnhem fire service received permission from the Germans to tackle the
fires in a limited part of the city. Orderly Theo W. Scholten was one of the firemen who volunteered
for this task, and he recalled later:
“We were stationed on the Eiland, corner of Wielakkerstraat. There was a hydrant there and we
could therefore draw water. From that point we laid out the hoses down the middle of Kerkstraat
to Pastoorstraat. In Bentinckstraat German soldiers were sitting drinking and singing in some of
the warehouses there. Including in a sack company. [14]. From there I also saw German patrols
leaving for the front line. They crept along in single file, keeping close to the houses in Kerkstraat, and they indicated to us that we should do the same. But we were of the opinion that our
way would make sure that the British didn’t mistake us for Germans. Therefore we preferred to
keep to the middle of the road and trusted that our white-painted helmets would show that we
were civilians working as firemen.
Wonder of wonders, the Israeli synagogue packed with commandeered radio sets was spared.
There was a fire next door and that is where we began our work. It was a long-lasting and therefore a tiring and hot task. Luckily a company gave us some cooling with refreshing bottles of
lemonade. After a while we were relieved and we went back to the pumping vehicle.
At a certain point Germans with an artillery piece arrived in Wielakkerstraat and began to position it quite close behind us. Of course we didn’t find this very pleasant and let that be known.
But they said “Don’t worry, we’ll fire over your heads.”
I can’t remember now how long we stayed there. We were probably relieved and others continued the fire-fighting. I do remember that from Kerkstraat we saw flames rising from the Grote
Kerk. But we weren’t allowed to go there.” [15]
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Fire chief Jonker was concerned for his men who were risking their lives extinguishing fires:
“During the afternoon of Wednesday 20 September a message was received to say that fires in
other parts of the city could now be dealt with. On receipt of this message personnel and equipment were sent out immediately. The first place we were permitted to go was to extinguish a
fire in Bakkerstraat. Even during the first call out this part of the city was under heavy attack by
aircraft. Nevertheless the fire crews managed to suppress the fire, but had to leave the firescene in haste. Men and machines returned to the fire station under a rain of bullets.” [16]
Jewish evaders
The evacuation of the city at the end of September 1944 was disastrous for the Jewish evaders. Various people were arrested at that time. One of these was 50 year-old Derk Bresser, who was arrested by the SD on 4 January 1945 for assisting evaders who had remained in Arnhem. He died on 1
April 1945 at Wöbbelin concentration camp in Germany, where many Dutch Jews were taken. [17]
Five weeks later, on 4 May 1945, the camp was liberated by the American 504th Parachute Infantry
Regiment of the 82nd Airborne Division.
After the liberation in 1945
School for Religious Education at Kippenmarkt after the
liberation in 1945 (Jaquet Collection, Gelders Archive)
Many Arnhem Jews did not return to the city at the end of the war in Europe. The exact number of
people who died, cannot be established. A close study of the data from the Red Cross and the Arnhem
civil register by Cees Haverhoek revealed that a total of 2,256 Jews lived in the municipality during
the occupation for a shorter or longer time. Some 1,300 of them were murdered, or died of starvation
or illness in a concentration camp. [18]
The Jews who survived their time in hiding or traumatic experiences in the camps were faced with a
difficult choice: return to Arnhem or make a fresh start somewhere else. Many chose the latter and
moved to Amsterdam or elsewhere in the Netherlands. Others emigrated, going to places such as Palestine, Australia or the United States. A large number of Arnhem Jews went to live in a specific village in Israel.
Of the Jewish religious leaders in the Arnhem municipality only chazzan (cantor) Leendert Boas survived the war, and he continued in this function until his death in 1957.
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Recovery
Because the synagogue was badly damaged in the hostilities, the Jewish religious school in Kippenmarkt was used as a temporary substitute until 1950. [19]
A Comité Actie Synagoge Herstel (Synagogue Recovery Action Committee) was set up which held
fund-rising activities and, together with the contributions received from the damages claims lodged by
the state for the recovery of war damage, sufficient money was accumulated for the restoration to be
put in hand. Led by the Amsterdam architect Jac. S. Baars, the building firm E. van Amerongen carried out the restoration work between the years 1949-1950. [20] Amongst other things the sloping
roof was removed in the restoration. The renovated synagogue was taken back into use on 10 December 1950.
Restoration
In August 2002 Rabbi Jacobs gave the signal for a large-scale restoration by walking from the railway
station to Pastoorstraat and blowing on a ram’s horn. [21] The work, which cost 2.9 million Euros,
was completed in 2003. Queen Beatrix was present at the festive transfer of the church by the Stichting Arnhemse Synagogue (Arnhem Synagogue Foundation) to the Joodse Gemeente Arnhem
(Arnhem Jewish Community) on 8 October 2003. The entire interior was returned to its original prewar state. The glass walls between the prayer room and the front entrance were added to improve
the natural light-fall.
A tinted glass plate was mounted on one of the walls. The plate bears the following text in Hebrew
and Dutch:
IN DE STENEN VAN DIT HUIS
ZIJN HUN STEMMEN VOOR ALTIJD OPGENOMEN
HET GELUID VAN HUN STEM WERD MONDDOOD GEMAAKT
MAAR DE KLANK BLIJF EEUWIG RESONEREN
Basically: ‘Their voices are stored for eternity in the bricks of this house. The sound of their voices
was silenced, but it will continue to resound for centuries.’
This text was composed by a member of the Joodse Gemeente Arnhem. Their house of God is again
(still) the Nederlands-Israëlitische Hoofdsynagoge, and in 2003 the community numbered some seventy persons. In 1965 a second church was established: the Liberaal (Liberal) Joodse Gemeente Gelderland, which in 2003 had approximately the same number of members. [22]
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Notes
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[1] ‘Jonas Daniël Meijer’, Jewish Historical Museum. http://www.jhm.nl/personen.aspx?
naam=Meijer,%20Jonas%20Daniel Consulted on 3 March 2007.
New site: http://www.jhm.nl/
[2] ‘Joden in Arnhem’, consulted on 3 March 2007.
[3] Margo Klijn, De Stille Slag. Joodse Arnhemmers 1933-1935 (Westervoort, 2003), 93.
[4] Ditto, 126.
[5] Ditto.
[6] Gelders Archive, archive Municipal Secretary Arnhem 1940-1949, inventory number 390, letter
4865/105.
[7] http://www.joodsmonument.nl/person.php?thg_id=1007.72455&lang=nl Consulted on 15
June 2007. New site: http://www.communityjoodsmonument.nl/person/2378/nl
[8] Gelders Archief, archive Municipal Secretary Arnhem 1940-1949, inventory number 390, letter
4865/105.
[9] Cees Haverhoek, ‘Jodenvervolging in Arnhem tijdens de Duitse bezetting’, Arnhem de Genoeglijkste, year 19 (1999), number 3.
[10] van Sonsbeke, Arnhemse straten, geplaveid met herinneringen, Deel I (Arnhem, 1982), p. 47.
[11] Niek Nelissen, ‘We gaan vol moed naar het onbekende. Het gruwelijke lot van het gezin Pinto’,
Arnhem de Genoeglijkste, year 22 (2002), number 2, 118.
[12] Klijn, De Stille Slag, 116-117.
[13] J. Vredenberg, ‘De synagoge aan de Pastoorstraat’, Arnhem de Genoeglijkste, year 22 (2002),
number 2, 68.
[14] According to the 1942 address book, at that time the Arnhemsche Zakkenhandel (Arnhem Sack
Company) was located at number 22.
[15] Th. W. Scholten, Enkele aantekeningen over mijn activiteiten bij de ordonnansdienst van de Arnhemse brandweer in de oorlogsjaren 1940-1945 (December 1976), 5. Gelders Archive, Documentation collection Second World War, inventory number 8.
[16] A. Jonker, Verslag omtrent de belevenissen bij de brandweer vanaf 17 september 1944 tot begin
december 1944 (undated), 9. Gelders Archive, Documentation collection Second World War, inventory
number 1410.
[17] Gelders Archive, archive Municipal Secretary Arnhem 1940-1949, inventory number 390, letter
4865/131a.
[18] Klijn, De Stille Slag, 233.
[19] Ditto, 234-235.
[20] Vredenberg, ‘De synagoge aan de Pastoorstraat’, 69.
[21] Klijn, De Stille Slag, 238.
[22] Ditto, 235.
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