Beilen

The presence of an organized Jewish community in Beilen dates to 1850.

In 1855, the Beilen community was brought under the aegis of the Jewish community of Assen. In its early years, the Beilen community held religious services in a small private house. In 1885, a new synagogue was dedicated. Its construction was supported in part by donations from local non-Jews.

In 1860, the Beilen community founded a burial society of its own and purchased a site for a cemetery at the nearby settlement of Eursing.

The Jewish children of Beilen received their religious education from teachers from nearby communities From 1903 on, the community disposed of a permanent school building. The Jews of Beilen did not have their own ritual bath but used ritual baths at Assen and Hoogeveen when needed.

In 1939, a camp for refugees from Germany was built at Westerbork, within the boundaries of Beilen. Ironically, the camp was used during the Second World War as a detention center for Dutch Jews prior to their deportation to concentration camps in Germany and Poland. The site of the former camp is now home to the Memorial Center Camp Westerbork.

The majority of the Jews of the Beilen perished in Nazi death camps. The mayor of Beilen refused to cooperate in their deportation and was dismissed from office and expelled from the province of Drenthe. Following the deportations, the Beilen synagogue was robbed of its contents and used by the Germans as a garage. The synagogue was razed after the war.

In 1950, Beilen's Jewish community organization was dissolved and merged into that of Assen. Today local authorities care for Beilen's Jewish cemetery. Since 1991, the pediment of the façade of the former synagogue is on display in the hallway of Beilen's town hall.