Cuijk
Dating of the Jewish cemetery on the Smidstraat to prior to 1761 suggests that Jews resided in Cuijk well prior to then. It was not until approximately 1840, however, that the Jews of Cuijk built their first synagogue. In 1870, the synagogue was moved to a new building located on the Maasstraat. In the same year, a new cemetery was established on the corner of the Wilhelminastraat en the Zwaanstraat to replace the old cemetery which was by then full. The old cemetery was sold and cleared in 1924 and the remains of its dead re-interred at the new cemetery.
In 1942, the majority of the Jews of Cuijk were deported and murdered by the Germans; a small number, however, managed to survive the war in hiding.
Jewish life was never reestablished in Cuijk. The community was officially dissolved in 1947 and administratively merged into that of the city of Oss in 1954. The former synagogue now houses a beauty salon; a plaque on its façade commemorates the deported and murdered Jews of Cuijk. In 1963, the Jewish cemetery was cleared and the remains of its dead were re-interred in a separate section at the local Catholic cemetery.
The Jewish population of Cuijk and surroundings:
The size of the Jewish community over time
1809
77
1840
162
1869
19
1899
32
1930
15