Grave

Fifteenth-century sources refer to the presence of Jews in Grave during late-medieval times; however, an actual Jewish community did not arise in Grave until early in the nineteenth century. At first, the Grave community was placed under the aegis of the Jewish community at Cuijk. Finally, in 1842, the Grave community was awarded independent status. The Jews of Grave built a synagogue of their own, located on the corner of the Oliestraat and the Korte Roggestraat, in 1871. The community buried its dead in a separate section of the non-sectarian public cemetery located on the Estersveldlaan.

The Grave community remained relatively small and reached its largest membership in about 1869. Thereafter, the Jewish population of Grave slowly declined. By the eve of the Second World War, the Grave community had virtually ceased to exist. The last Jews still residing in Grave were deported to Poland during the wartime German occupation of the Netherlands and murdered in Nazi concentration camps.

The Jewish community at Grave was officially dissolved in 1947 and administratively placed under the aegis of the community at Oss. The synagogue was sold in 1952 and for several decades thereafter housed a church; it was converted into a private residence in 1981. The Jewish cemetery at Grave is maintained by the local municipal authorities.