Goes

In the middle of the fourteenth century, a number of Jews who had fled from France resided in Goes. For centuries thereafter, there were no reports of Jews having lived in Goes. Jews returned to Goes once again during the early nineteenth century.

Synagogue in Goes, ca. 1910

By 1834, they held religious services in a private home. In 1836, the Jewish community of Goes was awarded independent status. A synagogue was built soon after and was subsequently renovated in 1881. A Jewish cemetery, located on the Polderweg near the Zaagmolenstraat, was established in 1835.

The Jewish population of Goes grew until the mid-nineteenth century but declined thereafter. In 1911, the Goes community was merged into that of Middelburg. The few Jews who still resided in Goes during the German occupation of the Netherlands in the Second World War were deported via Amsterdam and the detention camp at Westerbork to Nazi death camps in Poland where they were murdered. The Jewish cemetery at Goes is currently maintained by local authorities.

The Jewish population of Goes and surroundings:

The size of the Jewish community over time

1809

17

1840

88

1869

52

1899

24

1930

6