Almelo
The presence of Jews in Almelo dates to the seventeenth century. The community grew throughout the course of the eighteenth century. During the 1720's, the male Jewish population of Almelo numbered less than ten but, by the end of the century, Almelo was home to what was by Dutch standards a mid-sized Jewish community. The Jewish population of Almelo continued to grow throughout the nineteenth century and reached its zenith at the beginning of the twentieth.
Almelo's first synagogue was located in the neighborhood called De Bodden. The exact date of its founding is unknown but we do know that the synagogue was in use prior to 1803. By the mid-nineteenth century, the community had outgrown the building and opened a new synagogue in the Schalderoistraat. The community's first cemetery, located in a field called the Sluitersveld along the Kerkhofweg (Cemetery Way), was in use prior to 1775. The cemetery on the Boddenstraat was founded in 1846.
Jews played an important role in the development of industry and commerce in and around Almelo. The Salomonson, Bendien, and Hedemann families played important roles in the development of the textile industry in Almelo and in the development of the Koninklijke Stoomweverij (Royal Steam Looms) factory in nearby Nijverdal.
The Brothers Solomon (1819-1898) and Joseph (1821-1898) Meijler, at their house in Vriezenveen, preparing for Shabbat, circa 1880-1898
In het midden van de negentiende eeuw werd in Almelo een studiegenootschap opgericht, waardoor de plaats een grote aantrekkingskracht uit op joden uit de omgeving kreeg. Over het joodse onderwijs in Almelo is weinig bekend.
Voor het aanzienlijke aantal armen werd zorg gedragen door een liefdadigheidsgenootschap, dat in 1855 opgericht werd. Emigranten uit Oost-Europa werden ondersteund door een apart, in 1900 opgericht genootschap. Voorts waren er in Almelo op sociaal, cultureel en maatschappelijk gebied allerlei verenigingen actief. In de dertiger jaren van de twintigste eeuw kwamen in Almelo zionistische activiteiten tot ontplooiing. Daarnaast waren er in Almelo verscheidene groepen Palestina-pioniers, die contacten onderhielden met de Chaloetsiem-beweging te Deventer.
Synagogue in Almelo, ca. 1938
-RDMZ
During the German occupation of the Netherlands in the Second World War the same measures were applied against Jews in Deventer as elsewhere in the Netherlands. In 1941, Jewish children were excluded from public education and a separate Jewish school established. The school remained open through the height of deportations in February, 1943.
The majority of the Jews of Almelo were shipped to concentration camps and murdered. Only the synagogue and its Torah scrolls and accoutrements survived the war untouched. After the War, the Jewish community of Almelo was established anew. It remains active since.
On November 2, 1980, a new synagogue was inaugurated on the Kerkplein. The interior of the new synagogue contains much of the interior furnishings of the old synagogue on the Schalderoistraat. In April, 1999, the new synagogue was renamed in honor of Aron Haas, the driving force behind the post-war reconstruction of the Jewish community of Almelo. This Aron Haas Synagogue, which is not in use anymore, serves as a day care for the elderly since 2013.
In May, 2000, renovation of the cemetery on the Boddenstraat, including its house for ritual preparation of the dead, was completed. In December 2004 a plaque with the names of all Apeldoorn Jews who didn't survive the war was unveiled at the cemetery.
A monument to the memory of the Jews of Almelo murdered during the Second World War, designed by Altiene Lusseveld was unveiled in the garden adjacent to Almelo's city hall in December 2004.
The Jewish community of Almelo also included that of the nearby village of Vriezenveen. At the beginning of the 19th century ten Jewish families resided in Vriezenveen, ensuring an adult male population sufficient for holding synagogue services. From 1880 until 1920, Vriezenveen boasted its own synagogue, located on the Almeloseweg. The former synagogue building now serves as a warehouse. The Stichting Behoud Synagoge Vriezenveen (Society for the Preservation of the Vriezenveen Synagogue) currently is lobbying for its restoration. During the nineteenth and twentieth Jews also resided in the nearby village of Wierden but were not organized into a separate community of their own.
The Jewish population of Almelo
The size of the Jewish community over time
1722
7
1809
120
1849
284
1868
468
1899
521
1930
443
1951
106
1971
65
1998
36